Sonic Burst
by GammaTron
Summary: After a harsh storm, Sonic comes upon the wreckage of a ship and its lone passenger. After saving their life, Sonic ends up roped into a new adventure that he is uncomfortable with; an engagement.
1. In Which a Save leads to a Kiss

**I do not own the Sonic franchise. That is owned by SEGA. If I did, I'd make the next onic game be more like SA and SA2 in being able to play with more than just mainly Sonic or just Sonic.**

* * *

"Man, that was one wild storm last night."

A blur shot by the shoreline, barely stirring the sand from its speed. The blur stopped on a dime, revealing it to be a blue humanoid hedgehog. Moving his red and white soap shoe wrapped in bandages back, his tan muzzle moved into a grin as he bent down and picked up the dime into his bandage-covered gloved hands.

"Well, that's gonna be good for a gumball or something," the hedgehog noted as he hid it into his brown scarf, "And a good first joke for the day, too." he looked around, "Man...Only a few days ago, the islands around would've been sunk by the Lyric guy." he chuckled, "Man, that's a dumb name. 'Lyric.'" he looked around before his eyes settled on an outcropping, a piece of something stuck to it, "Wonder what's over there."

He ran towards the outcropping and halted. Bits and pieces of what had once been most likely a boat were scattered about. The hedgehog frowned as he looked at it all.

"Dang…" he whispered as he began to look around before he noticed something under a pile of broken lumber, "?!" he zipped over and began to quickly clear it off, "What?"

Now exposed, the hedgehog was greeted to a sight of a humanoid creature. At first, he thought he was looking at a fox, but...he could see traits that he knew that only hedgehogs could possess. Her figure was stunning to him. Her clothing was in tatters, barely keeping her modesty, yet exposed to him the full purview of her figure. Her fur was a golden yellow in color, a pure white muzzle and middle, ending in a 'bump' just below her neck on one end and beneath the tattered skirt barely on her rather ample hips that broke into full, slender legs, ending in small, dainty feet. Her full lips were slightly parted, a bit of pink lipstick still touching them, while her rather ample bosom was barely held back in the few bits of cloth still on her upper half, the two halves of her body connected by a waspish, fit waist.

"She's beautiful…" he whispered before he noticed her chest wasn't moving, "No…" he bent down and began to push down on her heart area, pausing to tilt her head back a bit more, "Come on…" he began to push down once more, trying to move his arms on her heart area like a pump, "Come on…" soft coughs came from her before strong ones followed, water spitting out from her lips before one more strong cough made the hedgehog move back as she rolled to the side and began to throw up more salt water and a bite of what he presumed she last ate, letting her taking in deep breaths as her airways were finally cleared, "Phew."

"Au... Watashi…" her voice, hoarse from the rough coughs, let out beneath her breath, "Watashi no atama…"

"Huh? Uh...What'd you say?" the hedgehog asked as the hedgehog-fox hybrid slowly opened her eyes, revealing the brilliant pools of jade floating in a sea of white.

"..."the hybrid managed to up onto her behind as looked at him, "Kimi wa…" she moved a bit closer to him, "Anata wa watashi o hogo shimashita ka?"

"Uh...I...If...If you're saying 'thanks,' then you're welcome? I guess?" the hedgehog blinked twice.

The hybrid cupped the side of his hand in her hand, the hedgehog noting her touch felt soft and tender. She moved again and her lips pressed against his own, surprising the hedgehog. His eyes widened further when a faint pink aura came off of her for a moment. The hedgehog blinked a few times as she ended the kiss, the hybrid collapsing against him as whatever strength she had failed her. The hedgehog blinked a few more times, looking down at the hybrid resting in his arms.

"..." he moved her a bit to let him touch a device mounted on his wrist, "Uh, Tails? You think you could get here fast? I can't think straight at the moment and need someone else here to tell me what I just experienced." a small ripping noise made him quickly add on while he looked at the sky, "And bring a blanket."

* * *

"And you found her under a broken boat?"

"Well...yeah," the hedgehog replied as he looked at a pink hedgehog in a red hairband and a red one piece top with a white collar, yellow buttons on the her left side and a lavender sarashi around her waist, "I only saw her hand under it and got the stuff off of her and there she was."

"How do you know she didn't do it on purpose?" The two hedgehogs looked with raised brows over at the orange and brown humanoid badger only slightly shorter than the pink hedgehog, who was keeping the furthest away from the hedgehog-fox hybrid on the large room's cot.

"...So anyway, she wasn't breathing and I gave her CPR. Next thing I know, she's throwing up the sea and something chunky," the blue hedgehog went on, "Then when she finally talks? I couldn't understand a word of it!"

"I told you to go take that language course, Sonic," the pink hedgehog frowned.

"It was three hours long every day. I can't sit around for three hours straight every day!" the blue hedgehog threw his hands into the air.

"Well, what did she say?" a two-tailed humanoid fox ask as he worked on a yellow device.

"I have no idea, Tails," Sonic replied, "It sounded like 'kiwi wah' and 'what a she whoa something or other.'"

"She sounds like she was out of it," the pink hedgehog noted.

"Well, she was apparently 'in of it' enough to grab the side of my face and kiss me," Sonic snorted.

 ***crack***

"Oop!" the pink hedgehog gasped, looking at the broken cup of glass she had grabbed to fill with water, "Sorry. I tripped."

"It's fine," Tails waved her off, "So she...kissed you?"

"Yeah. Then she got all glowy and passed out," Sonic replied, "Then I called you and you got to us. Sticks tried sniffing her all over and Amy shouted at us. Then we got here and…"

"We got it," Tails deadpanned before a tall red echidna with bandages over his hands up to his elbows dropped a block of ice beside the fox, "Knuckles! I needed it smaller and in a bag."

"Oh. Sorry," the echidna apologized before slamming his fist on the ice, shattering it, "There we go. Now where do you keep your bags, Tails?"

Tails sighed, "Sonic, can you…"

"Already heading out," Sonic replied as he ran out before skidding to a halt just a few feet away from the store to tap on his beeping device, "What's up, Tails?"

=SHE'S SCREAMING IN PAIN!=

"What?" Sonic blinked before hearing a loud scream on the other line, "What?!" he ran back to Tails's hut to see the hybrid panting in the bed, her eyes half-opened, "What just happened?"

"I don't know! You ran out and she started screaming like her entire body was on fire!" Tails explained.

"She's possessed! I'll go get the coconuts and the limes!" the badger declared as she jumped out of the overturned crate she had hidden in and ran out.

"...Right. Well, I'll go get the bags," Sonic informed before he ran off, stopping once more before the entrance to the store to answer his device, "Ye…"

=SHE'S DOING IT AGAIN!=

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed before he ran back, seeing her panting on the bed, eyes half open, "...Okay. What's going on?"

"...Sonic, I think it should be Amy who goes to get the bags," Tails advised after a moment of thinking.

"Huh? Why? I can just run over and back in a minute," Sonic argued.

"I think what he means is that she freaks out whenever you leave," Amy spoke up.

"So...he's stuck in here?" Knuckles asked.

"?!" Sonic's eyes widened, "Oh no! No! I am not stuck in here! I'll prove it's not me! Now watch as I run around the entire island and she doesn't freak out again!" before anyone could stop him, he ran off, "Yeah. Like it's me leaving a hut that's making her…" the device on his wrist went off, "What is is now, T…" a loud, agonizing screech erupted from the device, causing him to trip and slam into a tree, "...ow…"

* * *

"Okay. You are staying right in here until she can tell us why she does that when you leave," Tails frowned as Sonic tapped repeatedly on the chair he was sitting in.

"Guys, I'm sure that it's not me," Sonic argued before Sticks shoved a coconut into his face, "Sticks!"

"What? You need to drink it all up!" Sticks frowned, putting one by the bed for the hybrid, "Next time she's up, make her drink it even if she doesn't want to. I don't want to deal with a possessed fusion of you two in a girl's body."

"Uh...Sticks, you know she's not a clone, right?" Tails asked.

"Better check for a belly button," Sticks advised, reaching for the sheets before Amy grabbed her wrist.

"We can wait until she wakes up before doing that, Sticks," Amy advised.

"Okay. But if she wakes up, grows eight more tails, her eyes go black and red, and she starts attacking Sonic, don't come crying to me," Sticks shook her head.

"...Why did you need to check for her belly button?" Knuckles asked.

"Duh! Everyone knows Clones don't have belly buttons!" Sticks explained.

"So to change the subject so I don't get grossed out too much from us talking about belly buttons, how long until she wakes up?" Sonic asked before the door was knocked on.

"I'll get it!" Amy called as she walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a large man shaped like an upside down egg with blue glasses, goggles, a bald head, and a large mustache, "Oh. Hey, Eggman."

"I thought we agreed for a fight at 3:30 today at the marketplace. It's 3:45 and my robots are getting bored," the man frowned, "What's keeping you? Did that stupid echidna fall down a well again or something?"

"That only happened one time! ...this week," said echidna snapped.

"Sorry Eggman, but we got something me important to deal with right now," Sonic stated.

"What? What's more important than our usual b-" Eggman began before he noticed the unconscious fox/hedgefox hybrid, "...oh."

"Yeah," Sonic nodded.

"What? Did Tails finally get tired of being single and make a gender bent clone of himself, but mixed your DNA in by accident?" Eggman asked.

"Wouldn't that technically be selfcest, sir?" a small, red, orb shaped robot spoke up as he poked his head in.

"Can it, dunce bucket," Eggman ordered.

"No. I found her on the shore after that huge storm yesterday," Sonic explained.

"Ooh…" Eggman winced a bit at that, "That was a nasty one. It knocked out all the power at my base, even my back up generator! I couldn't even watch my soaps!"

"What?"

"Forget you heard that."

"Weirdest thing was is that I couldn't understand what she was saying and when she kissed me, she glowed and passed out," Sonic scratched his head.

"I see...Well, I have just the thing for the first part," Eggman dug into his pocket before pulling out a small chip, "A universal translator. Made it during the storm since I couldn't watch my so-I mean!-watch my evil genius guide to being evil shows."

"Wait….how did you work on that if you didn't had any power?" Knuckles asked.

"I plugged my tools into Cubot," Eggman replied.

"Used up almost his entire battery, too," Orbot shook his head.

"Now I just put this in her ear and not only will she be able to understand us, but it will send a small vibration through her body to her vocal cords and translate her voice for us," Eggman explained.

"And we should trust you why?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. That could secretly be an Obliterator Bot in disguise!" Sticks accused.

"It's not a robot," Eggman frowned before adopting a pondering look, "Though Obliterator Bot does sound like an interesting name."

"...What?" Sticks blinked when Sonic and the others shot her an annoyed glare, "...What?!"

"Now let's see…" Eggman bent over the hybrid's form and gently put the chip into her ear, "And done."

"That's it?" Amy asked.

"What? You expected it to turn her into a robot?" Eggman asked, "I may be an evil scientist, but I'm not that cruel."

"Oh…"

"Hey, she's waking up!" Tails exclaimed.

"Mmm…" the fox/hedgehog hybrid muttered as she stood up, rubbing her eyes a bit as she slowly began to open them.

"Okay, give her some space," Amy advised as everyone moved back to let her sit up, an arm going over the blanket over her figure to keep it on her.

"..." she slowly opened her eyes once more before looking around, "Wh...where am I?"

"It works!" Eggman pumped his fist, "Told you it wouldn't turn her into a robot."

"Or maybe she's really a robot in disguise! Sent from the future to kill us for leading the resistance!"

"...Tails, we are not letting you pick the next movie for Movie Night," Amy frowned after everyone gave the badger a look.

"Dang it," Tails snapped his fingers at that.

"Who are you all?" the hybrid pondered.

"Easy now. What do you remember?" Amy asked.

"I...I remember a storm and...and a huge wave…" she held her head, shaking it a little, "Then I'm coughing up water and…" her eyes settled on Sonic, "Ah! You saved me!"

"Yeah. And then you kissed me and glowed."

"Ah!" she gasped, "I...I did?"

"Yeah. Really...pink, too," Sonic replied, "So is it something that happens when you kiss anyone?"

"No. It...well...a family tradition," she replied, "Oh! How rude of me. My name is Roll Sakurai. A pleasure to..."

"Like the bread?" Knuckles asked, earning looks from everyone, "...What?"

"...Knuckles….corner. Now," Amy ordered.

"Why does everyone think that?" Roll sighed, "Father named me after part of a music genre."

"Do you have a belly button?" Sticks asked.

"What?"

"Sorry about Sticks," Tails apologized quickly, "My name is Tails and you're in my house."

"Ah. I see," Roll nodded before looking at a puddle of melting ice, "Why do you have so much ice melting on your floor?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Eggman agreed.

"That would be Knuckles," Tails sighed.

"So I'm Amy Rose. Nice to meet you," Amy greeted, "But can we be clear on something? You glowed when you kissed Sonic?"

"Sonic?" Roll repeated before Sonic gave a wave, "Oh. Yes. It mean that my soul acknowledged that the Bond connected correctly."

"Bond?" Amy repeated.

"Yes. I keep pam…" Roll began before looking at herself under the covers, quickly holding them closer, "Um...Where are my clothes?"

"Destroyed by the storm," Sonic replied.

"...Please tell me you have some replacements?" Roll asked, blushing a bit.

"...I knew I forgot something," Amy muttered before running out, "I'll be right back."

"While I am sure this is very interesting and all, I do have a 4:00 appointment," Eggman noted before pulling out a little red notebook, "Shall we reschedule for 5:40?"

"Ye-oh, wait. Knux and I have that video game session till eight in an hour," Sonic replied.

"Eight then?"

"Special on the TV about chili-dogs of the world. Maybe tomorrow first thing? Say 10 in the morning?"

"Fair enough," Eggman grumbled, "Orbot, we're going." he then turned to Roll, "Oh, and if you feel any burning in your ear, come see me as soon as you can."

"Huh?" Roll blinked twice before Eggman and Orbot left, "...That was a strange egg-shaped man."

"You have no idea," Sonic and Tails deadpanned.

"Right. We-EEK!" Roll squeaked as Sticks shot under her covers.

"Darn!" Sticks popped up, the top of her head under Roll's chin, "She's got an innie. Not a clone, people."

"Um...W-Who are you?" Roll blinked owlishly at the badger as she went back under and out from under the bed, "And why did you poke my belly button?"

"That's Sticks," Tails explained, "Sorry about her. She's just….'curious' about things."

"...What?" Roll blinked at that.

"So what can you tell us about this 'bond?'" Tails asked.

"Well...Mother said that the bond is something ancient in our family, dating back to a gift from the gods," Roll noted, "When we are saved from death for the first time by someone not in our family, we perform a kiss and the bond comes into being, connecting our souls to one another." she blushed, "It's, well...also our way of declaring who our Mate for life is."

"...I'm sorry, I think I had something stuck in my ear, but...did you just say 'Mate for life'?" Sonic asked, picking his ear with his pinky to make sure there wasn't something in it.

"Yes," Roll confirmed, playing with her pointer fingers, "From the moment the Bond was made; our souls have become connected to each other to bridge the gap to love." she tilted her head while tapping her cheek, "Though...I believe they call it 'Husband and Wife' in places outside of where I grew up."

"...I….see…." Sonic slowly noted, "...Tails?"

"Yes, Sonic?"

"I'm gonna faint now."

"Wh-"

 ***Thud***

"Huh...He fainted," Sticks blinked twice.

"...Oh, I get it now," everyone looked at Knuckles, "She's from Downunda."

"..." Tails faceplamed while Roll tilted her head in confusion.

* * *

"Mate for life?" Amy repeated as Roll was behind a curtain Tails had set up.

"That's what she said, yeah," Tails nodded, "And...well, you already saw Sonic KOed on the floor when you came back."

"Hey, does a dog have one or two circles over their eyes?" Knuckles asked, looking up from Sonic with a marker in hand.

"Mate for life?" Amy repeated.

"...Uh...Amy?"

"Mate for life?"

"...I think she's broken."

"Does that mean I can draw on her face, too?" Knuckles asked.

"No way!" Sticks argued before swiping the marker and doodling on Amy's face, "That's my job."

The curtain moved and the three conscious members of the group looked. Roll was now wearing a dark pink nightdress, her hips and bust making the bottom barely go past her knees instead of ending at her ankle like it should've, the top stretched out to expose a part of her cleavage.

"Huh...It looks different than when Amy wears it," Knuckles noted, "...Are you wearing shoes that we can't see?"

"Pardon?" Roll tilted her head before seeing Sonic and Amy's faces, "Oh my…I thought that only happened in cartoons or in Northamer in colleges."

"Mate for life?"

"...Um...I...Is she okay?" Roll asked, looking over at Tails.

"I think her brain shut down over what you told me and Sonic and what Knuckles overheard from the corner," Tails replied.

"Oh. This happens often when my family's explained this to others," Roll noted before she turned to the kitchen...and became a yellow blur that shot through the kitchen before stopping on a dime before Amy, splashing her with the small cup of water, causing Amy to sputter and shake her head to get the water off her face, "There we go." she handed Amy the towel she grabbed before looking over at the other three, who were staring at her with surprised looks, "...What?"

"You….you just ran fast…." Tails whispered.

"...Well...Yeah," Roll blinked twice, "What's wrong with that?"

"But...Sonic is the only one that can run fast," Knuckles pointed out.

"You forgot Shadow," Amy reminded.

"Oh yeah…"

"Really? He can run fast, too?" Roll asked, looking over at Sonic as he was starting to come to.

"Fastest thing alive," Tails clarified, "Or...as he likes to call himself that."

"Oh…"

"Ugh...what happened?" Sonic groaned as he sat up, looking at his reflection in a nearby mirror, "...Okay. Who gave Knuckles and/or Sticks a marker?"

"...Tails did it," Knuckles and Sticks quickly blamed, the latter tossing the marker to said fox.

"Well, at least that lets me still do my morning routine," Roll noted in relief, "It'd be terrible to miss my morning 200km runs."

"What do you mean? Couldn't you still do that?" Amy asked.

"No. If he goes too far from me, my body starts to go through intense pain until we're closer," Roll explained, "Since it's a newly made one, about the size of two of these houses side-by-side is the maximum distance."

"Wait, what?" Sonic's eyes widened.

"Yes. My family calls it the 'Abandoned Heart' when someone deliberately exceeds the maximum distance," Roll explained.

"...Sonic," Tails spoke up as he looked at the Hedgehog, "You're staying near her from now on, no matter what."

"What? But...fine," Sonic frowned, "Now can someone get me a wet rag or something so I can get this off? I do not look good with a monocle."

"Okay," Roll replied, once more zipping in and out of the kitchen with a wet rag, "Here you go."

"...Did she..?" Sonic began with wide eyes.

"Just ran as fast as you? Yes," Tails nodded.

"..." Sonic slowly blinked as he turned towards Roll, "...How do you feel about Chili Dogs?"

"Oh, I think that's terrible. Why would you like dogs being so cold?" Roll asked in shock.

"..."

"...Is...something wr-?" Roll began before Sonic grabbed her hand and dashed off, "Kya!"

"...Should we feel worried for her?" Tails asked.

"I feel worried about us dealing with an alternate reality genderbent Sonic/Tails fusion out to kill us all," Sticks replied.

"I don't think she's that," Tails scoffed.

"When she starts using that tail to fly up and snap your neck while you're in a plane, then you'll be sorry."

* * *

"Um, wh-where are we going?!" Roll asked as Sonic dragged her to town.

"Getting you your first Chili Dog," Sonic replied as he looked around.

"B-But…" Roll gulped, "I'm just in this…"

Sonic paused as he looked at her borrowed nightgown, "..." he looked away, blushing, "Okay, good point." he looked around before picking her up and running off before anyone noticed, "Okay, I think I still have some back home."

"You really don't plan things out, do you?"

"Your point?"

"...Just please get me some more decent clothes."

"Fine, fine, fine," Sonic waved her off before stopping on a dime outside his place, "And here are we." he put her onto her feet before picking up the dime, "Man, people are leaving these all over today."

"...What?" Roll blinked at that before Sonic ran into his place, causing her to yelp as she held down the lower half of her borrowed night dress, before he ran back out with two hot dogs covered in chili and shredded cheese, "Huh?"

"First things first, here," sonic said as he handed her one of the chili dogs, "Eat it."

"...What is it?"

"Um, it's a chili dog, duh."

"I thought you meant a cold, shivering little doggy," Roll noted as she took the offered food.

"What? No. It's a type of food th….nevermind. Just try it."

"...Okay…" Roll muttered as she slowly took a bite of her Chili Dog before her tail shot straight up "?!"

"Well...?"

"It...It's really good," Roll replied, taking another bite.

"Exactly," Sonic nodded as he ate his in one bite, "Best food in the history of forever."

Roll finished eating her own, giving a small bow with her hands pressed together by their palms, "It was good. Thank you for the meal."

"No prob. Now…" Sonic paused as he ran back into the house, causing Roll to hold the lower half of her borrowed gown again before teh hedgehog ran back out, holding some clothes, "Your clothes? Best I could find really..."

"...I suppose they'll do for now," Roll said as she took them and ran into the house to change.

She ran back out, wearing a black tee with the blue heart on it stretched out by her bosom and a pair of jean shorts. She wore a pair of fingerless white gloves with the wrists of them tightened down by sports tape and a pair of white running shoes. Her flowing locks of hair were pulled into a ponytail and held together by a blue bow.

"Thank you," she smiled before kissing his cheek.

"...Uh….eh heh. N-no prob," Sonic chuckled a bit, blushing a little as he rubbed the back of his head, before clearing his throat, "Anyway, come on. I'll show you around the village."

"Okay," Roll nodded.

* * *

"Okay, this is the unnamed village," Sonic explained, "Population? Depends on the episode."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Sonic replied as they stopped in the center of the village, "Okay, over there's the market, over there's the huts for residents who live inside the village, over there's town hall, and over there's entertainment district with places like the library and Meh Burger. It's kinda the only place to get food around here that you don't have to cook yourself."

"I see…" Roll nodded slowly.

"See that huge building over there?" Sonic asked as he pointed at the largest structure in the village, "That's the mayor's place. He keeps saying the re-election is coming up, but nobody knows when exactly."

"Really? He's supposed to let people know when they're supposed to happen immediately when announced, isn't he?" Roll raised a brow.

"Eh. He mostly has me and the others do the tough stuff for him," Sonic shrugged.

"…"

"...What?"

"So you're in the police force?"

"Oh...Nope," Sonic shook his head, "The Mayor said being a hero is better than being in the police force."

"Then how do you afford rent?"

"Rent?"

"...But...you're on the shoreline. From what I saw while we were there, that was actually a very valuable piece of real estate well worth hundreds of thousands of dollars," Roll observed, "How do you even…? Y-You know what? I'm not sure if I want to know how you get money or not."

"...Oh that reminds me. We need to get you registered here for the village since you….well, will be living with me," Sonic stated.

"Huh? Why?"

"Not registered? Then you're pretty much barred from coming into the village...like, at all. Before you ask, Mayor set the rule up to 'keep troublemakers' out of the town."

"...So that means 'no visitors' either," Roll frowned before sighing, "Very well."

"Alright then," Sonic nodded as he began to lead her towards the large building, "And hey. I'm not the one who makes up the rules...and strangely, only celebrities are free from the rule."

"...Ow…."

"What's wrong?"

"I feel like my belief in good people in offices has been shot."

"Eh. Maybe the new guy will be much better," Sonic shrugged while muttering, "Whenever that election happens…"

* * *

"Hey, Mayor!" Sonic called as he and Roll entered a large office where a humanoid, plump mouse in a cream outfit with hat and fuzzy mustache was busy stamping away at papers.

"Hmm?" the mouse blinked, pausing for a moment to look up, "Oh Sonic! What a pleasure to see you? Here for another key to the city, or did you come to do me another favor?"

"...'Another key to the city?'" Roll whispered to Sonic.

"Me and my friends save the town...like, a lot," Sonic replied before looking back at teh mayor, "And no. I'm here to help register someone for the village."

"Oh?"

"Yes, sir," Roll replied with a bow, "My name is Roll Sakurai."

"A pleasure to meet you, dear. Now…" the mayor paused as he hefted up a very large pile of papers and placed them before her, "I need you to sign all of these in triplicate and you should have your citizenship within 2-3 weeks."

"Very well," Roll nodded.

She calmly reached to the pile before her arms became blurs. The mayor and Sonic blinked before the pile was now on the other side of Roll, all filled out.

"May I ask when the re-election is?" Roll asked.

"...uh…" the mayor droned out, a look of shock on his face.

"Yeah. Surprised the others, too," Sonic noted.

"...I...I see…." the mayor noted, "...Um...excuse me. I need to get back to signing these…"

"When's the re-election?" Roll repeated her question.

"Still deciding," the mayor quickly waved her off as he went back to his paperwork.

"..." Roll opened her mouth before Sonic covered her mouth, shook his head, and the two walked out, "What was that about? 'Still deciding' my tail! He's deliberately refusing to notify anyone when the election date is."

"When you're the mayor, it's hard to get anything out without having to deal with paperwork," Sonic said, "Seriously, we waited a whole day on the opening for a new store, and he was busy with a huge pile of paperwork."

"..." Roll sighed, pinching her nose, "He better not delegate his duties to someone else. Otherwise, I will be right on them with a bill to demand the re-election to take place immediately."

"Oh, you're getting how new laws are done here. Good," Sonic grinned.

"...Can we change the subject please?"

"S-" Sonic began before he heard someone scream, followed by Eggman laughing, "...Right after I deal with Baldy Mcnosehair."

"Who?" Roll blinked before Sonic ran off, "Ah! W-wait!"

* * *

"Don't give me a refund, will you?! Robots, destroy the store!" Eggman ordered as a bunch of bee and ladybug themed robots began to blat and tear up a store front.

"S-sorry sir! Btu all sales are f-" the owner of the store began before one of the bee-shaped robots blasted one of the carts, "Ahh! My cabbages!"

"Yes! Yes! Destroy it all!" Eggman ordered before a blur shot by him, smashing through a few of the robots, "What?!"

"Hey, Eggman!" Eggman looked down to see Sonic looking at him, a bit of a cocky smirk on his face, "What's wrong? The guy ended up giving you some rotten eggs or something?"

"No. He refused to give me my refund! I had the receipt, the original packaging it came in, and everything!" Eggman argued, "Wait. Why am I telling you? Robots, crack his skull or I'm cracking your skulls!"

The owner whimpered behind a piece of debris, trying to stay hidden.

"Hello," a voice greeted, startling the owner and making him look up at Roll, "Does...this happen often?"

"Twenty-four seven," the owner gulped, "We can even set the time with the attacks."

"I...I see…" Roll noted, looking over the debris to see Sonic zipping around, breaking apart bee-shaped robots and ladybug-shaped robots, "...Why the…?"

"Usually it's those, a giant robot, or a mech he built to try and destroy Sonic and his friends."

"Destroy?!" Roll gasped.

"He has a very big dislike of Sonic." the owner deadpanned before yelping when Eggman fired at him.

"Because he's annoying and keeps getting in my way!" Eggman snapped.

 _'What?'_ Roll tilted her head in confusion.

"Well maybe if you stop trying to destroy this place to build your Eggman-themed theme park, then we wouldn't have to stop you," Sonic countered as he bounced off one of the ladybug themed robots.

"Sir, that's the last one you had with you today," Orbot noted.

"Blast…" Eggman cursed as he pressed a button on the device on his wrist, causing a strange vehicle that resembled the lower half of an egg to float down as he jumped into it, "This isn't over, you annoying blue pin cushion!"

"See ya later, Baldy McNosehair!" Sonic taunted.

"Gh?!" Eggman tensed, causing him to falter in his vehicle as it flew off, "Don't call me that!"

"Heh heh….that never gets old," Sonic chuckled to himself as he turned towards Roll and the store owner, "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," the owner replied, "But my store…" he shook his head, "Well, at least the Mayor approved that Eggman Act bill, so I'll be able to fix up my shop by tomorrow morning."

"Eggman Act?"

"Basically, we report where Eggman's attacked the village and the village's construction crew comes and fixes it up. They've gotten really fast at it, too," Sonic explained.

"...Is that why he has so much paperwork?" Roll asked.

"Not really sure. He was busy with all that stuff when I first showed up," Sonic shrugged, "In fact, between you and me? I think he just pulls out a pile of blank papers and just stamps them when he has nothing to stamp."

"..."

"...What?"

 _'...Note to self, run against that mayor, or at least help someone run against him to get someone more competent,'_ Roll thought, "It...It's nothing. Just...is this also the clothing store? This is the only outfit I have."

"Your point?" both asked her.

"...Just...Just tell me where it is, please," Roll sighed.

"About five huts down," the owner replied.

"Thank you," Roll nodded, "Let's get going, Sonic."

"You're not gonna make me wait while you try everything in the store on, are you?" Sonic asked.

"No. I try to go in and come out with what I need," Roll replied.

"...You sure?"

"Oh come on you," Roll pouted as she grabbed Sonic's hand before dashing off in a blur.

"...Did that girl just run as fast as Sonic?" the owner pondered.

* * *

"Huh. I didn't even have to sit down at all," Sonic blinked twice as the two walked out, Roll carrying a few bags in one hand.

"Like I said, I just know what I like and I just look for it," Roll shrugged, "So where to next on our tour?"

"Honestly, not sure," Sonic shrugged, "Well...there's Eggman's place, but I don't think ol eggbutt wouldn't suddenly appreciate us barging in on his property after losing."

"Right…" Roll nodded.

"Hey. Maybe we can get something at Meh Burger," Sonic suggested.

"...Well, I suppose a quick bite wouldn't hurt," Roll admitted, her stomach grumbling a bit.

"Awesome!" Sonic grinned before taking her wrist and sped off before stopping in front of a small line, "Only place to get food that's made to order."

"It's kinda…" Roll noted as she looked around, "Open to the world. Aside from the line, it feels more like a cafe or picnic area."

"Thank you….please come again…" a rather bored, nerdish voice spoke from behind the counter as a humanoid antilope walked away, "Welcome to Meh Burger. Can I take your order?"

"Two regular Meh Burgers, no pickles," Sonic ordered, "First time customer with me."

"Hello," Roll greeted, giving a bow.

"...Okay," the clerk behind the counter nodded as he walked off. The two waited a few minutes before he walked back, holding a tray with two burgers on them, "Here."

"Th-" Sonic began before Roll looked at her burger, "...something up?"

"...This is undone, and there's pickles on it," Roll stated to the clerk.

"Oh….sorry," the clerk muttered as he took the tray...before turning around and putting the tray back down, "Here. No pickles, and well done."

"...I demand to speak with your manager," Roll stated.

"You're talking to him," the clerk answered.

"..." Roll inhaled slowly before exhaling slowly, "..." her eyes narrowed as a frown formed on her lips, "I don't believe you understand. He ordered _no pickles_." she grabbed a bun and removed it from the burger, revealing an entire layer of pickles, "This is _extra_ pickles and the meat is still raw." the clerk gulped as a glint appeared in her eyes, "I suggest you _properly_ correct this. Don't you?"

"...One fresh set of burgers with no pickles coming up," the clerk gulped, taking the tray and bolted off.

"Hmph. The nerve of some people," Roll huffed, crossing her arms under her chest, "When I go to somewhere to order food, I expect it to be what I ordered."

"Eh. it's Dave. What do you expect?" Sonic shrugged off.

"I'll be sure to make a note that this 'Dave' seems to need to learn how to run a business better," Roll noted.

"Here you go," the clerk/Dave gulped as he returned, placing the tray down with a fresh set of burgers, "Well done burgers with no pickles, just like you wanted, ma'am. O-On the house, even."

"Why thank you," Roll smiled...the smile not reaching her eyes, "I do hope that we can agree that _this never happens again._ Right?"

"Mmm hmm," Dave gave a nod in response, sweating nervously.

"Lovely," Roll nodded as she picked up the tray and walked off with Sonic.

"Wow. I've never seen him do the burgers this good before," Sonic noted.

"I guess it just took someone pointing it out to make him see reason is all," Roll shrugged, giving a small glance over at the counter to see Dave freezing in his looking over at them and quickly going back to work, "But enough about that. Let us just enjoy our meal in peace."

"Heh. Yeah," Sonic agreed.

* * *

"...Is there any reason why they're staring at me?" Roll whispered as the two began to walk back to Sonic's hut, Roll carrying a few more bags.

Sonic just shrugged, giving a 'I don't know' mummer in response. Glancing around, he did notice that villagers were looking at Roll with mixed facial expressions. It was then the two were stopped when a humanoid eagle in a light red shirt and blue sports shorts, a cameraman beside him.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Soar the Eagle and this is another rousing edition of Surprise Interviews!" the eagle introduced himself to the camera, "And our Surprise Interviewees are right here!" he moved to let the cameraman look at Sonic and Roll, "Say 'hello' to the fans, you two!"

"H-Hello…" Roll moved behind Sonic a little, a small blush on her cheeks.

 _'She's camera shy?'_ Sonic pondered, "Yo."

"As you all know, we've interviewed Sonic before. However, we have a brand new little lady in town right beside him," Soar informed before moving the mic to Roll, "Your name, Ma'am?"

"R-Roll…"

"Like the bread?" Soar raised a brow.

"Like 'Rock and Roll,'" Sonic explained with a deadpan tone.

"Ah. How very interesting," Soar noted, "Now, I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

"O-Okay, Mr. Soar…"

"Oh please. Just call me 'Soar.' _Mr._ Soar was my father," the eagle joked, "Now where do you come from?"

"Y-Yurashia," Roll replied, "O-on the island cou-country of Dainipon."

"Ahh...that's quite far away from here," Soar noted, "How did you get here to our village then?"

"I'm uncomfortable with flying, s-so I was taking a b-b-b-boat to travel to A-a-a-a-Adabat. I...I got caught in a big storm when my sail tore when I was trying to change course," Roll explained, "I...I ended up crashing onto the sh-shore here..."

"Oh dear….are you alright?"

"Y-Yes. Thanks to S-Sonic," Roll replied, "H...He saved me."

"Ah good," Soar nodded as he looked at the camera, "You hear that, folks? Even though she's from another country, our hero Sonic has saved her without anything in return! Such a selfless person!"

"Yeah...without anything in return…" Sonic mumbled.

"My baby!" they looked to see a humanoid lady walrus in a fine dress looking up at a baby walrus crawling on top of a hut, "Someone save my baby!"

"Well, here we go again," Sonic shook his head before a yellow blur zipped by him, up the palm tree by the building, onto the roof, and then back down the tree and stopped before the lady walrus.

"Here you are, ma'am," Roll spoke, offering the baby, "He's okay."

"Oh, my baby!" the walrus cheered, scooping the baby into a hug, "Oh thank you so much, dear."

"It...It's nothing, really," Roll blushed as she made a circle in the dirt with her foot.

"...Did she just…?" Soar began.

"Move as fast as me? Yes," Sonic nodded.

"But the only one who can do that is…"

"Shadow, yeah. Well, he used to be the only one who could. But now we can add Roll into that group of speedsters on the island," Sonic noted as Roll came back over to them, staying a tiny bit behind the blue hedgehog when she spotted the camera again.

"...Well how about that, folks?!" Soar exclaimed as he looked at the camera, "It seems Sonic's group of Freedom Fighters has gained a new member! And the best part? She's just as fast as Sonic!"

The crowd that had gathered began to cheer. Roll sheepishly gave a tiny wave as Sonic just gave a wave.

"So tell me, Roll, what are your plans now?" Soar asked.

"Um...w-well, I...I think I-I'm going to st-stay here. It...It seems n-nice here," Roll replied before whispering under her breath, "Even if the mayor is doing everything in his power to delay the elections..."

"What was that?" Soar asked.

"I-I was saying 'Everyone h-here is s-so nice,'" Roll replied.

"Ahh….glad to hear," Soar nodded, "Well, I do hope you enjoy your days here at our unnamed village, Roll. And this is Soar the Eagle with another Surprise Interviews! Sponsored by Meh Burger."

Roll just gave a deadpan look at the mention of the place. She quickly hid the look with a smile before bowing to Soar before the two left.

"Huh...First time someone hasn't tried to shake my hand," Soar noted, "I like that girl."

* * *

"So Sticks goes on to say 'Because we're a team! We got beaten to the punch, or in this case, the kick as a team. We can raise our heads proudly, knowing we've traveled all this way, just to watch someone else finish the job. When we walk down the streets and the people whisper "Those are the ones who couldn't quite save the day, almost, but not quite" we will smile together because we didn't do it as a team! I finally understand teamwork... and it is beautiful,'" Sonic told, earning as laugh from Roll as they walked to his hut.

"Oh my...S-Still...It must have been nice to find people you became friends with," Roll noted.

"Heh heh….yeah," Sonic nodded, holding his hands behind his head as he walked to the front door, "They're my best buds, and I wouldn't trade them for the world…"

"Knuckles, I told you not to touch my stuff!" Tails' voice snapped from inside.

"...They're my best buds, and I _would_ trade them for ones that don't argue inside my house," Sonic corrected before blinking twice, "Wait. When did I get a door and glass on the windows?" he opened it to see everyone inside, "Hey, guys. Why do I have a door now? And glass in the windows?"

"Oh! Well, considering how close you two need to be, we salvaged everything we could from the crash site," Tails explained, "And added some new rooms to your hut and finally got a door for it."

"Okay...Wait, where's my hammock?" Sonic asked.

"It's on the second floor with the one for Roll," Tails replied.

"It was my idea, considering you're most likely a genderbent fusion of Sonic and Tails from another universe," Sticks noted.

"What?" Roll blinked twice.

"We all saw the live interview, too," Tails added.

"Yeah. And we saw you two on the TV with Roll saving Lady Walrus's baby...again," Knuckles grinned.

"Huh? ...Again?" Roll repeated, "What do you mean again?"

"That baby constantly gets in danger," Knuckles explained, "Just yesterday, he got stuck in a tree, stuck in a pipe, stuck on the back of Soar the Eagle's shirt…" he shook his head, "Man, Soar's hard to catch when he freaks out."

"..."

"...You alright, Roll?"

"I...I am trying very hard not to ask something that may insult anyone in the vicinity," Roll replied, taking in deep breaths, "I learned today that there's a man who attacks on a daily basis so often that you can set your clocks to when he attacks, that the mayor is purposely prolonging the election, and that the only place for quick food is run by one person who does a terrible job at it. And now I'm learning that a baby is constantly getting into danger each and every day?"

"Sounds about right," Knuckles nodded, "And hey, you're not the only one that doesn't like Dave. Amy hates him too."

"He deliberately keeps giving me the wrong order…" Amy muttered in annoyance, "Seriously, I ordered a fish sandwich, and he gave me a raw fish sandwich instead! Raw! Like, the fish was still alive!"

"I don't think you have to worry about that if you go with Roll," Sonic noted, "She terrified him with just words and we got fresh burgers fully cooked and everything on the house."

"Really?"

"He gave us two undone burgers with extra pickles when Sonic specifically said no pickles," Roll answered, "Which I am grateful for, because I do not like anything pickled."

"...Roll?"

"Yes?" Roll blinked as she looked at Amy.

"I think you and I are gonna be good friends," Amy smiled, _'Even though you're Sonic's...gh... Mate for life because of that family law of yours.'_

"...Well...If Amy thinks you're okay...I'm still gonna keep an eye on you," Sticks informed.

"Um...Okay?" Roll blinked twice before squeaking as Sticks began to squeeze her chest, "Ahn~!"

"Like figuring out how you didn't pop when eating a beach ball," Sticks noted.

"St-Sticks! No! We don't do that!" Amy yelped as Sonic blushed while Knuckles covered Tails's eyes and his own.

 _'...I think I need to call Kaa-san and Tou-san… That is, if this place has a phone...Hopefully,'_ Roll thought.

* * *

 **Read and Review!**


	2. Of Sidekicks and Family

**To make things clear, I am going with a combination of things for this story. While it will take place in the Sonic Boom universe (I rather enjoy the cartoon for it and, well, it kinda makes me wanna try the games even if they're bad), I will be including some things from other Sonic series for a more detailed world of sorts.**

* * *

Sonic yawned as the tropical birds began their morning song. Getting up in his hammock, he rubbed his eyes before he opened them...getting a good view of the second hammock, empty but a stuffed red cat plush and a stuffed white dog plush on top of a folded baby-blue blanket. He sniffed the air.

"Huh...Something smells good," Sonic noted before he ran down the newly built stairs of his house and down into the kitchen area.

"Good morning!" Roll greeted, wearing her borrowed nightgown with an apron over it at the stove, "Breakfast is almost ready!"

"Oh...cool," Sonic nodded as he sat down at the table.

"Ah-ah-ah. Did you wash your hands and face?" Roll asked.

"...Uh...I got gloves on," Sonic replied as he raised his hands.

"Did you wash the gloves then?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied, but Roll didn't seem to buy it one bit, "...What? I did."

"Sonic," Roll smiled...while her eyes seemed to glint dangerously, "Put on a fresh pair of gloves."

"...Yes ma'am," Sonic meeped as he ran back upstairs, _'What is with that look of hers?!'_

Roll shook her head as she stirred the pot she was cooking in. A loud 'thud' went off at the door and Roll zipped over to open it.

"I smelled something good in here and thought Sonic was abducted and replaced by something that can cook," Sticks explained, rubbing her nose, "I forgot about his door, too."

"...I see," Roll noted, "Would you like to join us for breakfast? I'm almost done making it."

"Yes please!" Sticks nodded excitedly as she ran in, only for Roll to block her path with her tail, "Hey! Wh-?"

"Did you wash your hands and face?" Roll asked.

"No. Why? Am I supposed to?"

* * *

"She gave you the look?" Sonic asked as he and Sticks scrubbed their gloves/hands respectively in the sink.

"I haven't felt that scared since I ran into my first predator," Sticks replied, "But I did learn some neat traps from the guy before he left."

"I see," Sonic nodded, moving his gloves up as he began to dry them off.

"Have you both washed your faces and hands or gloves?" Roll called.

"Yes, ma'am!" both replied quickly.

"Okay! Breakfast is ready!"

"Sweet!" Sticks beamed as she ran downstairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Sonic called out as he ran after her. When they reached downstairs, they noticed the table was covered in various breakfast foods, ranging from pancakes to sausages, "...Woah."

"I couldn't decide what to make and, well, I've been wanting to try some of the more Western breakfasts since Amy showed me that cookbook you had in your fridge," Roll explained, "I won't ask _why_ it was in there, but I hope you like it."

"Well...it looks g-"

"OM nom nom!" Sticks shouted as she dove straight at the food before Roll managed to catch her in mid-lunge.

"W-Whoa there, Sticks!" Roll yelped, "You need to give thanks to the food first!"

"Huh?" Sticks blinked as she looked at her, "Why? It's just food….isn't it?"

"It's more than that, Sticks," Roll shook her head, "All the food before you was made from life. We give thanks to the food before we eat as a sign of thanks to life itself, which in turn gives us more strength from what we eat."

"Oh...okay…" Sticks slowly blinked as Roll calmly let her down, "...Uh...thanks for the meal?"

"Almost, Sticks," Roll replied, giving a small giggle, before placing her hands together, "I give my thanks to all the food in this world. May you give us the strength we need for days ahead. I shall have the treat." she bowed before she separated her hands, "There we go. Like that."

"Oh...okay," Sticks nodded before placing her hands together, "Uh...I give my thanks to all the food in this world. May you give us the strength we need for days ahead. I shall have the treat."

"Now you may eat," Roll smiled.

"...RAWR!" Sticks roared as she pounced, grabbing as much as she could before running to a seat and hopping onto it and began to scarf it down, "Mmm! So m'ud (So good)!"

 _'...Did….Did she just get Sticks to actually behave?!'_ Sonic mentally gawked.

Roll giggled, "She reminds me of a friend of mine back in Dainihon, except without the verbal tic of his."

"...I….I see," Sonic slowly noted as he sat down, "It all looks really good, Roll."

"It 'as'ts 'od 'oo (It tastes good, too)!"

"Sticks, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Oh…" Sticks swallowed her food before she began to cough.

Roll poured a cup of milk and put it before Sticks, who quickly drank the entire cup.

"Phew!" Sticks gasped before smiling, "It tastes good too!"

"Thank you," Roll smiled before looking at Sonic, "And how're you enjoying breakfast, Sonic?"

"It's really good, Roll," Sonic grinned, _'Not lying, either. The pancakes are so fluffy and the sausage seems to just melt in my mouth. The bacon isn't too crunchy, but not too soft either...'_ "Are you secretly a world famous chef?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. Not at all. I just learned to cook from my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her father, who learned from his neighbor Billy who had the freaky popped eye and a scar in the shape of a cross-eyed moose with a mauve-colored seven-legged spider in his armpit," Roll explained.

"Oh...well still, this is pretty awesome food."

"I'll say. These waffles are fantastic."

"See? Knuckles agr-KNUCKLES?!" Sonic gawked when he noticed the echidna sitting next to him, "How'd you get here?!"

"Uh….the door?"

"Please tell me you washed your face and hands," Sonic spoke.

"Wait, we're _not_ supposed to do that?" Knuckles asked.

"..."

"...What?"

"I'm glad you do that everyday, Knuckles," Roll smiled.

"No prob," Knuckles nodded as he resumed eating, putting the waffles, sausage, eggs, and bacon together to make a sandwich as he chowed down.

"What next? Tails and Amy?" Sonic asked before pausing and glanced to his left to see both eating as well, "...Okay, I should really remove that fan from the kitchen….Well. At least Eggman's not here."

* * *

"ACHOO!" Eggman sneezed, nearly dropping his cup of coffee, "...That was odd."

"More bakey?" Orbot asked.

"...You say 'bakey' ever again and I'm throwing you into the crusher," Eggman threatened.

"Don't forget you're attacking today at 10," Orbot reminded.

"I know that," Eggman muttered before he looked down at a list, "Now let's see….what robot shall I use today….Oh! Burnbot! I haven't used him yet."

"Oh, good idea, sir!" Orbot applauded.

"I've been curious, but why did you call it Burnbot when it doesn't even have…?" Cubot, a robot resembling Orbot but yellow and cube-shaped, began.

"Grr…"

"Shutting up."

* * *

"All set for a morning run, Roll?" Sonic asked as Amy was cleaning the dishes for them.

"Hai!" Roll replied as she ran down, wearing a pair of dark-pink running pants with a white line going up the sides, a baggy white shirt with a red heart on the front, and pink and blue running shoes while her gloves and shoes had sports tape on them with her hair pulled into a ponytail by a red ribbon, "It's not a good day unless you have a good morning run!"

"You mind if I fly after you two in my plane?" Tails asked, "I'm hoping I can see if I can get any readings on if there's something else involved with this bond you two have and how running together works with it."

"Hmm...Well, it has never been studied scientifically," Roll noted, "Even father never tried since he already loved mother and didn't really mind the Bond."

"...So...you're okay with it?" Tails asked.

"Yes."

"Cool. Then let's head out," Sonic smirked.

* * *

"They're on the move, sir," Orbot informed, looking at a screen showing Sonic and Roll running off while a yellow plane flew after them a second later.

"Good. When they're within range, we swoop in and attack with my latest robot!" Eggman ordered, getting into his vehicle once more, "Burnbot, let's go!"

* * *

"How're ya holding up, Roll?!" Sonic called out as they ran through a large canyon-like area.

"I'm doing okay!" Roll replied.

"Good to hear!" Sonic nodded as he looked up, seeing Tails' plane fly overhead, "Hey, Tails! What do you see so far?"

=So far, nothing= Tails replied from the device on Sonic's wrist =Oh, wait. I am picking up on some very, very tiny bits of energy, but I'm not sure if it's you and Roll=

"...It's Eggman, isn't it?" Sonic asked in a deadpanned tone.

=No. He's about a mile ahead=

"Should've known…" Sonic muttered before he looked at Roll, "Heads up. Eggman's just a mile ahead."

"Eggman? Oh! The man you were talking to in Tails's home and then fought in the market?" Roll recalled, "You said you had something to do with him at 10."

"Huh? Oh yeah…" Sonic looked at his device, "And it's almost 10…Welp, time to crack some eggs. Roll, you want in on this?"

"I'm still a bit uncomfy since I'm new to all this. Not just yet, if that's okay," Roll replied.

"Ahh...then stay at a safe distance," Sonic advised, "But not too far. Don't want that condition of yours acting up."

"Okay," Roll nodded, moving up close and giving him a kiss to the cheek before slowing down a little to keep away from the coming fight, "Good luck!"

"And now the time is…" Sonic looked at his device before looking ahead, seeing Eggman flying through the area, "8 o'clock. Yo, Eggy!"

"What?! Ah! Sonic!" Eggman looked over his shoulder before he began to speed up.

"So what's today's plan, Egghead?"

"Eggman! It's Egg _MAN_! You know that's how my name is said, you dreaded hedgehog!" Eggman snapped, "You do that on purpose!"

"Do what, Egghead?" Sonic smirked.

Eggman had his vehicle turn a sharp corner. Sonic quickly made the turn followed by Roll. Sonic yelped and barely managed to stop before he fell off a cliff, Roll skidding to a halt just a few meters away before she hid behind a large rock formation.

"Perfect. Now, Sonic, I'd like to introduce you to my latest creation, and the bane of your existence now, Burbot!" Eggman declared as a robot jumped down and landed on the cliff opposite of Sonic's, covered in spikes with sharp claws for hands and wheels for feet.

"So what, he's gonna burn me with flamethrowers or something?" Sonic asked.

"Flamethrower? Well... no…"

"Oh, uh, acid? Incendiary grenades!" Sonic kept guessing.

"No no no, the li- claws! He has claws! Very painful claws!" Eggman replied, Burnbot snapping its claws to emphasize that.

"Then why call it 'Burnbot?' Run out of names to use with the word 'egg'?" Sonic quipped.

"It's a metaphorical name," Eggman growled, "And for that matter! I name the robots, Sonic! Burnbot, ATTACK!"

Burnbot jumped and landed on the same level as Sonic. Thrusters on his back erupted and he began to charge at Sonic. The hedgehog smirked as he began to run around, going down into the chasm with Burnbot chasing. Eggman looked and floated over to the rock formation.

"Need a lift down?" Eggman asked.

"Oh. Yes, please," Roll replied as she hopped on, "I need to stay close to him or it will end bad for me."

=Blue Leader, this is Yellow Sky. I have eyes on Burnbot. He's on the move, over!= Tails spoke as his plane flew overhead.

"Thanks, Tails. Initiate 'Speeding Swing Surprise,'" Sonic ordered.

=Copy that=

Tails sent his plane down into the chasm, barely avoiding Eggman's vehicle. Tails tapped the device on his wrist and an energy chain came out of it. He swung the chain down as Sonic and Burnbot jumped at each other with the chasm below them. Sonic grabbed the beam and used it to swung around to kick Burnbot, launching the robot into the canyon wall. Sonic landed on the ground as Eggman floated down near Burnbot, letting Roll hop off and run behind another rock formation.

"Get up, get up, _get up_!" Eggman ordered.

Burnbot dug its claws into the ground before using them to get up. A shadow flew over him, making Burnbot look up to see Tails's plane. He aimed one of his claws at the plane and fired it at the vehicle, the limb part of it extending like a cable. Tails yelped as the claw easily ripped through one of the wings, sending him spinning.

"Bail, Tails! Bail!" Sonic called out.

Tails grabbed a lever in his cockpit and pulled on it...causing the whole assembly to fall out. His ears drooped as he tried not to whimper at what just happened. Sonic prepared to rush to help, but was cut off by Burnbot moving in front of him, snapping its claws. Sonic dodged one of Burnbot's claws, then saw a large rock poised over it. Sonic jumped over another of Burnbot's attacks, and spun into the rock, dropping it on Burnbot. Sonic ran over to Roll and the two began to run up to the top of the canyon.

"Tails, no!" Sonic called out just before the plane crashed.

"Oh no…" Roll gasped as they dashed off, letting Eggman fly away, a magnet on a cable grabbing Burnbot on his way away.

"Oof! You are heavy," Eggman noted, "You could stand to burn a few calories, Burnbot."

The two skidded to a halt before the wreckage and Sonic pulled Tails out of the cockpit, soot and some burns on his body. He laid Tails down away from the plane and placed his ear over his chest. He breathed a sigh of relief once he heard the heart beating. Roll gently picked him up and helped him over Sonic's back.

"Keep resting, pal. I'll get you home," Sonic comforted before they ran off, _' I promise I'll never let anything like this happen to you again.'_

* * *

As Sonic paced about outside, Roll finished putting the last of the bandages on Tails in his bed. She looked around, seeing a lot of the pictures were of just him growing up...no one else really in them. It wasn't until she saw a few photos of him and Sonic hanging out together and some group photos that she looked at Tails.

"You must really like him, huh?" Roll pondered, " _When all alone in my chair, I just go about wishin',_ " she lightly ran a hand through his head fur, " _I wanna be strong, I really wanna be trusted,"_ outside, Sonic peeked in, having heard her voice, _"When all alone in my bed, I just go about yearnin'. I wanna be cool, I also wanna be like him_."

"That's really nice," Sonic commented, poking his head in through the window.

"Ah! O-Oh...well...It-It just came to me is all," Roll blushed.

"Oh...well still, it was really nice," Sonic shrugged, causing her to blush further before they heard Tails mumble a bit, indicating that he was starting to regain consciousness.

Tails let out a small groan as his eyes slowly opened. He began to get up when a gentle hand made him lie down once more.

"Easy now, Tails," Roll comforted, "You got hurt when your plane crashed."

"Roll?" Tails asked, "Sonic?"

"Hey, buddy! How ya feelin'?" Sonic asked.

"I'm great," Tails replied, "Ready to get back into action!"

"Uh-uh," Roll shook her head, "You look like you want to throw up."

"N...No I don't," Tails argued, shaking his head only to let out a groan.

"You have a concussion," Roll explained, letting him slowly get up enough to let her give him a small hug, his head laying on her bosom, "You're going to feel like this for a day or so and you need to rest."

"O-Okay…" Tails mumbled, his unbandaged ear hearing the soft beats of Roll's heart.

"And, uh yeah! You can take all the time you need to get better. Because, well, I've got some great news! You, my friend, are taking early retirement!" Sonic informed.

"Early retirement?" Roll and Tails repeated.

"Yeah, you're gonna be able to play lots of golf and spend time with the grandkids!" Sonic informed, patting his shoulder.

"Sonic, he's ten. I'm not sure he's allowed to do 'that' yet, nor would he have any grandkids for another thirteen or sixteen years if he was," Roll noted.

"Roll, please. Trust me, it's for the best," Sonic replied, giving Tails a small pat on his head, "I'll be heading out once Roll's done making sure you're comfortable. So...I'll see ya around, pal." he ran out.

"...What just happened?" Tails whispered.

"I think he's trying to protect you from another plane crash," Roll replied, "He's been completely worried for you since we saw you crash." she gently ran a hand on his head, "Just get some sleep for now, Tails. I'll try to talk some sense into him before something happens."

"Mmm-hmmm…" Tails mumbled as his eyes slid shut, her heartbeat acting as a lullaby, "zzz…"

Roll gently laid him down in bed once more, giving a small kiss to his forehead before leaving. She frowned as she rubbed her arm, Tails briefly replaced with another twin-tailed fox she knew in her thoughts.

 _'I really need to call home…'_ she thought before seeing Sonic in another hut connected to Tails's hut, "Sonic, what are you doing?"

"Oh! Uh...Well, this," Sonic replied as he turned and held up a paper.

"'Sidekick tryouts. All qualified candidates welcome. Best candidate gets the job. Resume and references required,'" Roll read before a frown formed on her lips, "You're really doing this?"

"I don't want him to get hurt again," Sonic replied, "I was worried that...that it was it for him. He...he looked so lifeless and-and I thought he wasn't breathing until you checked. Oh, Saturn, he's the first friend I've ever had and..."

"Shhh…" Roll comforted, pulling him into a gentle hug, "He's been through worse, hasn't he? You told me about that Lyric fellow and what he did and how you all worked together, right? If it hadn't been for him, you wouldn't have these...EnerBeam things, right?"

"...yeah," Sonic replied, glancing down at his wrist device.

"And without him, you wouldn't have memories of such big fun with him, right?" Roll went on, recalling the pictures on the wall.

"...yeah."

"I know you want to protect him, but look at it through his eyes. If you do this, he'll want to try to prove himself," Roll explained, "Most likely he'd hide in a disguise or something and it might impair him in some way that will just get him into bigger trouble."

"Yeah. He...He'd probably do that," Sonic replied, "...Yeah. Maybe I sh-"

 ***KNOCK KNOCK***

"Huh? Who could that…" Sonic began as he walked to the door and opened it, seeing a crowd of people outside, "...uh….hi?"

"...Did you put them out already?" Roll asked.

"No," Sonic replied before looking over at an open window and the blowing fan next to the empty printer, "...Oh."

Roll began to nurse a forming headache.

* * *

"Hello. My name is Amy Rose, and I'd like to try out for the position of sidekick," Amy said as she stood before Sonic, the hedgehog sitting at the table.

"I'm both impressed and terrified that everyone had all this with them and ready to go in such a short notice," Roll noted, sitting beside Sonic while looking at the list of applicants.

"Tell me about it," Sonic said as he looked over at Amy, "And Amy, why're you trying out? You already…"

"I might not bring much to the table, but I can do this!" Amy said as she pulled out some juggling balls and began to juggle them at a fast pace, all while her eyes were closed, "And if this doesn't impress ya, I can do this too! _Oh, when the saints! Go marchin' in!_ "

"NEXT!" Roll shouted, her hands covering her ears.

* * *

"Um, yes….I'd like to try out for position of side kick," a humanoid beaver said, "But I'd like to point some things out. I don't run fast, I'm not very good in a fight, I don't like violence, I'm very finicky on what I eat and clean, I…"

"Next," both stated in unison, Roll pulling out a red stamp and stamped his application.

* * *

"So...I've been thinking up some names for our team, sidekick," Knuckles stated as he held a note pad.

"Knuckles...no…" Sonic groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So for you...I was thinking Knuckles Jr, or Punchy...Spikey….The Blue Rat…" Knuckles listed off. "And your girlfriend...Yellow Foxy….oh and she has to constantly tell me how handsome I am...and swoon."

"...No...and No….and Roll...kick him out,"

"Actually, I have a better solution," Roll informed, a glint in her eyes.

The next thing Knuckles knew, he was glued to the ceiling of the house, the words 'REJECTED' stamped all over him.

"...I'll have to talk to the landlady about that later…" Sonic gulped.

"Wait. I thought you didn't pay rent for being a celebrity," Roll blinked twice.

"...ummm...Next!"

* * *

"I…" the Mayor began.

"When's the re-election?" Roll asked.

"...must be going. But good luck with this!" the mouse yelped before he ran off as fast he could.

"Mmm…" Roll frowned at that, "...Next!"

* * *

"Yes...I…" Dave began,

"Hello again," Roll greeted.

"...forgot that there's a line at Meh Burger and must be going to do the orders!"

Sonic glanced over at Roll, who was just smiling, before stamping the application with the red stamp, "Next."

* * *

"Amy again?" Sonic raised a brow.

"She filled out two," Roll replied, "One under 'Amy Rose' and the other 'Rosie the Rascal.' You really should've added 'Only one application per applicant.'"

"Well…I didn't think so many people would apply honestly…" Sonic admitted, "But...Let's see h-"

"If you didn't like my last performance, I'll try it again, but with an Italian accent! _Oh when-a the saints! Go-a marchin in! Oh when th-_ " Amy sang while juggling the balls, speaking in a bad Italian accent as she danced a bit.

"..." Roll began to repeatedly stamp the application with the red stamp as Sonic just pushed Amy out as she kept doing her routine.

* * *

"Okay...so who's next?" Sonic sighed out as he rested his head on the table.

"A pair; snow kunoichi and twin tails shinobi," Roll read. "Their specialty is ninjutsu and they come in package deal."

"Ok, Snow Kunoichi and Twin Tails Shinobi, come in," Sonic sighed.

At that, a pair of cloaked foxes came in, the taller of the two wearing a very dark ice blue cloak.

"So...I understand this is an application for role as your sidekick, correct?" the smaller of the two asked.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded, "My previous sidekick got hurt bad in a previous attack and I'm worried if he goes into another fight and it happens again, he won't be as lucky."

"...I….see…..kyu…" the taller of the two noted, the air starting to get cold with each passing second.

"Wait...kyu?" Sonic repeated as he looked at the taller fox, "...Why does that sounds familiar?"

"And why's it getting cold in here?" Roll asked, shivering a bit, "It's not even winter."

"Umm, what he meant was he got slightly uncomfortable. He jumped and landed on his leg and wasn't wearing safety gear…" the smaller quickly said. "He only got a boo boo...just a boo boo." at that, the room got warmer.

Roll raised a brow, "Well, let's continue, shall we?"

"Yes...let's, kyu," the taller of the two nodded.

"Umm...so, why are you both signing up as a package deal?" Sonic asked.

"Well why have one sidekick when you can have two?" The smaller one asked.

"...point…"

"A smart idea as well," Roll agreed.

"We also speak Dainiponese, kyu." the taller one said.

"Oh! You're natives of Dainihon?!" Roll gasped.

"Hai, kyu," the taller one nodded.

"(Oh that's such a relief. I was getting a bit worried on being the only one who could speak that here)," Roll noted, taking out her UT.

"(Well, our clan kinda wanted to see the world. I live with my little kit here)," the taller one spoke.

Roll giggled before glancing at the smaller one and then the taller, "(It's Tails-chan, isn't it?)"

"(Roll, don't say a word)," Tails spoke.

"(Wait. Why didn't you…)"

"(I was not gonna translate everything you said while you were freaking out whenever someone not Sonic was around)."

"(Ah. Smart move. Still, at least it will be nice to have talks without this thing in my ear)," Roll noted, "(I'm really sorry about all this happening. Sonic forgot to turn off the fan when he was printing all those papers by the open window)."

"(You will be removing Knuckles-san from my ceiling, kyu)" the taller informed, "(I tend to walk around barely clothed.)"

"(I'll make sure of that)," Roll replied before the glue gave out and Knuckles landed on his face, "..."

"Ow…" Knuckles groaned a bit as he stood up, seeing the two cloaked figures, "...Oh hey Tails. I see you brought your sis Miyuki with ya."

"...Please don't say 'I told you so,'" Sonic sighed as Roll put her UT back in.

"...Fine, I won't," Roll giggled as the two figures removed the hood of their cloaks, revealing Tails and a humanoid nine-tailed vixen with creamish yellow/white fur, a bit of her hair hanging in front of one of her eyes as it was held by an ice blue hairband.

"...Oh you look very beautiful, Miss Landlady," Sonic chuckled nervously.

"I'll go inform the line that the position has been filled," Roll informed, pulling Knuckles out, "And you are coming out to give them second thoughts on being grumpy." she paused to bow to Miyuki, "A pleasure to meet you and a hope to talk later."

"...Well if you're living here as Sonic's girlfriend, you have to pay rent as well." Miyuki said, "We'll discuss the couple relationship deal later. Other than that…" she paused as she gave the hedgefox a soft smile, "I hope we can get along well, Roll, kyu."

"Of course," Roll nodded before pushing Knuckles out and closed to the door, "The position has been filled! Any complains are to go through him!"

As the sounds outside were muffled by the building, Sonic looked at Tails and sighed, "Look. I was gonna throw the papers away after Roll talked with me about what a bad idea this was. The plan had holes in it, I'll admit it."

"It had a lot of holes in it," Tails deadpanned.

"Point is, I was just trying to protect ya man," Sonic explained.

"And I do appreciate that, kyu," Miyuki spoke up, giving him a rather...unsettling smile as she looked at him, "But I just want to inform you this, Sonic Maurice Hedgehog…If I ever find my little brother upset or injured because of something _you_ specifically did…" she put her hand on the table, causing it to instantly freeze up, "Got it...kyu?"

"G-Got it, ma'am," Sonic gulped, "Wait...Tails, why didn't you say you knew what she was talking in yesterday?"

"You didn't ask."

"Right," Sonic frowned, "Still...I really am sorry for all of this happening. And if I ever think of this, tell me this; 'Amy with a bad Italian accent.'"

"Huh? Why?" Tails asked.

"You don't want to know," Sonic shuddered.

"Oh...and Knuckles?"

"Tried to make both me and Roll _his_ sidekicks. Tried to get me to rename myself 'Knuckles Jr,' even."

"..."

"Sis, please don't freeze him," Tails sighed.

"I'm not. I'm just making a mental note to give Mr. Echidna a rather…firm talk next time we meet, kyu," Miyuki assured him.,.that smile still not leaving her face.

"Right. ...Hey, uh, Miyuki? Do you know this family called the Sakurai?" Sonic asked.

"A bit, kyu. When they find a love, it's always 'till death do they part, kyu," Miyuki explained, "Why ask?"

"Well…" Sonic began before Roll ran back in.

"Please tell me you have a phone," Roll begged as she was before the nine tailed vixen.

"Of course. I always have one on me whenever me and my little brother decided to order out someplace that isn't...blech. Meh Burger," Miyuki replied, gagging a bit at the mention of that place.

"I share you pain," Roll replied.

"Roll actually got our order right and on the house to boot yesterday," Sonic explained.

"...Gave you the wrong order?"

"Eeyup," Roll nodded, "Then had the gall to try to say he corrected it when all he did was turn around. A few... _words_...was all that was needed to show him how wrong he was."

* * *

"I am so glad you both made up," Roll noted as she looked over at Tails, asleep on the couch.

"Yeah, I am too," Sonic admitted before looking at Miyuki, who was sitting and drinking a small cup of tea across from them, "I was hoping to talk to you about Roll anyway, Miyuki."

"If you do anything kinky around Tails, any kinky wordplay in front of Tails, and if she dresses kinky around him... You're out of your hut."

"Got it," Sonic nodded.

"I wouldn't do that around him. That's more private," Roll blushed.

"Then you have nothing to worry about, hai?"

"Yes," she said, "You're very protective over your brother, yes?"

"We're the only ones left of our family."

"Oh my," Roll gasped before bowing, "I'm so sorry if I brought up something bad."

"No, no. It...It's fine," Miyuki assured before pulling out a cell phone, "You needed this, right?"

"Oh. Yes. I need to call my family. Tell them I'm okay," Roll explained, "I'll pay for the bill as thanks."

"Oh, thankyu," Miyuki smiled as Roll began to dial, removing her UT once more.

"(Moshi-moshi)?" a yawn was heard.

"(Mother)?"

A gasp was heard, "(Roll?! Honey, wake up! It-It's Roll! She's okay!)"

"(Huh?)" a yawn was heard.

"(Father?)"

"(R-Roll?! You're okay! Oh thank the kami!)"

"(I'm glad to hear from you both. I'm calling to let you know that I'm okay, but the boat was destroyed.)"

"(This is why I told you to bring some tech! Honestly, you and your mother with Wayfinding…)"

"(What _about_ our Wayfinding, dear?)"

"(Uh...W-Well...Oh! Haseo's going to be so happy you're safe and sound! Where are you?)"

"(An archipelago. Not really sure where it is exactly, but the people who live here are nice.)"

"(Sweetie, be honest; did someone save you or did you wake up on the shore?)"

"..." Roll took in a deep breath, "(Mother, I was nearly dead with sea water in my lungs. I was saved by someone giving me CPR and, well...we're Bonded now.)"

A gasp came on the line, "(You Bonded? Oh my kami! Who did you Bond with? Are they fast? Please tell me they are. I know you love your runs and to hear you wouldn't be able to…)"

"(Mother, I'm okay. Sonikku is a very fast hedgehog, he's as fast as me even.)"

"(Okay. I got it)," her father's voice came, "(Honey, does anyone there speak Dainihonese?)"

"(Yes. She gave me the phone I'm talking to you on right now.)"

"(Ah. Good. Can you let us talk with her for a little?)"

"(Okay. I love you both.)"

"(Oh, sweetie, we love you, too.)"

"(Love you, honey.)"

Roll handed the phone back, "(They'd like to talk to you, Miyuki-san.)"

Miyuki nodded, "(This is Prower Miyuki. I'm the one who's lending your daughter this phone. May I ask if you speak English? There's one here who can't understand us and is currently looking like his head's going to blow up.)"

"(Hold on)," Roll's father spoke before she heard something click, "Better?"

"Much better, kyu."

"Ah. Good. My Universal Translator attachment for the house phone is working fine, it seems," he noted, "Can you put us on speaker?"

"Hai, kyu," Miyuki replied.

"Is everyone able to hear us now?" Roll's father asked.

"Loud and clear, father," Roll replied

"Good. Tell me, who's the one who saved our beloved daughter?"

"Uh, that'd be me, sir. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"...Wait, is your middle name 'The?'"

"...Shrug," Sonic shrugged.

"Ooh! He's got a cheeky sense of humor," Roll's mother giggled, "Well, our names are Aphrodite and Skye, but considering you're Bonded to our adorable little daughter, you can call us mother and father."

"Um...Thanks…"

"I'm not sure if Roll went over everything about being Bonded with you, but there are a few key things…" Skye began.

"She told me about the leaving her in a certain range," Sonic replied, _'And it doesn't help that we learned that it causes her a ton of pain even when she's unconscious.'_

"Ah. Good, she told you one of the most important things to _not_ do," Aphrodite sighed in relief, "I was worried that I'd have to sail out there and then slice you into little, itty-bitty pieces that I'd feed to piranhas and then slaughter them all with electrocution before turning them into mulch for my rose garden if you _did_ break that one."

"Uh, r-right…" Sonic blanched.

"Listen, I'm trying to triangulate where you are so we can send some of Roll's things," Skye informed, "But there are a few other rules you need to know. You need Roll just as much as she needs you. It doesn't make sense right now, but it will once you figure it out."

"Um...okay?"

"Good. Also, make her cry, and you will not know or how, but I will find you...and I will kill you, string your guts all over the room like it's a party of death, and mutilate your corpse worse than what happened at the witch trials in Salem."

"Ulp…" Sonic gulped, sweating nervously.

"Father~ Mother~! Stop scaring him," Roll pouted.

"It's an important thing parents need to do, Sweetie!" Aphrodite replied.

"I'm so sorry about them," Roll apologized.

"Eh heh heh….i-it's fine," sonic assured her, laughing a bit nervously.

Roll nodded a bit in response, "Oh...ano, can I speak to my parents in private for a moment?"

"...(if it's about a few certain people of this island, then go right ahead, kyu,)" Miyuki told her.

"(Thank you,)" Roll nodded before taking a long deep breath, "(Mother, father….while I said the people here are nice, there are a few that drive me absolutely crazy. The Mayor being a prime example)"

"(Oh? What's wrong?)" Skye asked.

"(Re-election.)"

"...(Oh, so the Mayor's one of _those_ people, eh? Well, you need to outthink him, is all. Judging by it, you already exposed yourself as someone who is determined to get a re-election going. My best suggestion? Find a dummy who's taken over for the Mayor for the day and trick him into getting a law passed that will make the re-election immediate and set it up for a certain time limit for re-election to happen.)"

"(Good idea, father)," Roll nodded, "(And, please, don't get me started on the food services offered here. There's only one and the only employee is a terrible worker. If I hadn't had a few words with him, he would've given us raw meat with extra pickles when Sonikku said no pickles.)"

"(You almost ate pickles?!)" Aphrodite gasped, "(THAT'S IT! LET ME AT WHOEVER DID THAT! THEY'RE DEAD!)"

 _'She sounds mad,'_ Sonic thought, moving back a bit.

"(Mother. Mother, settle down. I took care of it.)" Roll assured.

"(Oh...well good then. Anything else?)"

"(Yes. Apparently, there's also a baby that constantly gets into danger. I mean just yesterday, I got him down from a roof while the mother screamed 'my baby!' until someone, IE me, saved it.)"

"(...What is wrong with that lady?)" Aphrodite questioned.

"(I'm not sure, but I do think I'm going to try to offer my services as a babysitter if only to try to mitigate the danger that little baby gets into.)" Roll answered, "(...That is if I'll get a chance to with the constant attacks from Eggman.)"

"(Excuse you?)" Skye blinked.

"(I am not kidding. This place gets attack 24/7 by a man named Eggman because he wants to build an amusement park themed after himself. Seriously, the people here have schedules on when he's going to attack! _SCHEDULES_!)"

"(...Honey, are you _sure_ you Bonded with someone there?)" Skye asked.

"(Yes I did, father, and he seems to be one of the only sane people here.)"

"(...Anata?)"

"(Yes dear?)"

"(Once you find this place, we're heading there immediately to keep a close eye on our daughter and her chosen mate, _and_ help fix a few of the problems that place seems to have.)"

"(I am so glad we're on the same page, my divine pink pearl of the sea)."

Roll held the phone away as a blush graced her cheeks, earning looks from the two, "...They're flirting with each other on the line."

"Ahh...I remember when me and White used to do that when we were younger, kyu," Miyuki giggled.

"...So uh...did everything go okay?" Sonic asked, hoping to change the subject a bit.

"Oh yes. In fact, when they can, they'll be coming up to keep a close eye on us," Roll answered, _'And help fix the things wrong with the town.'_ "I can't wait to introduce them to all of you."

"Ahh...ookay then," Sonic nodded, _'Well...gonna have to meet the possible in-laws later in the future….hoo boy.'_

A scraping noise made the three look outside to see Sticks dragging one of Burnbot's arms behind her. She noticed them looking at her.

"Eggman attacked an hour ago with a robot that had flamethrowers on its waist. Amy, Knuckles, and I beat it up when Amy distracted it with juggling and sounding like a poor attempt at a fat Italian-American plumber who goes through pipes and fights turtles," Sticks explained before resuming her dragging of the arm.

* * *

 **Miyuki Prower is owned by Seanzilla115.**


	3. In which a doctor is now your roomie

**A lot of stuff is gonna be different, but also more or less the same. That's what happens when you have someone there to mitigate issues or cause new ones.**

* * *

Sonic yawned as a series of knocks came at his new hut door. Roll mumbled as she turned in her hammock by his while he went downstairs. He opened the door, revealing Eggman standing there, a bit nervous and wearing a trenchcoat.

"Hi," Eggman greeted.

"It's 2AM. What do you want?" Sonic grumbled.

"First of all; thank you for answering the door at such a late hour. I realize how much of a inconvenience this must be a-"

"Get to the point, Eggface.."

"...I need your help," Eggman slumped.

" _You_ need _my_ help?" Sonic asked.

"Yes. My sinister island lair... You know, the ultra-high-tech stronghold where I hatch my diabolical schemes to eliminate you... It was destroyed in the storm just an hour ago. I was hoping I could crash with you and your new friend for a few days until my robots rebuild it?" Eggman asked before getting on his knees and clasped his hands together, "Please! Don't strand me in this wilderness!"

"...Well you could certainly use a roof over your head…" Sonic noted before sniffing him a bit, "...And a bath." his eyes then narrowed at him, "How do I know this isn't some elaborate plan to capture me and Roll while we're sleeping?"

"I swear I will not harm you or your hedgefox friend during my stay," Eggman swore, "I didn't even bring any weapons. Here, check my pants."

"No, no, no! It's okay, I believe you," Sonic quickly denied before moving out of the way, "So it's only for a few days and it's _just you_?"

"Just me…" Eggman said as he walked in….followed by both Orbot and Cubot, "And Orbot and Cubot. They're family!"

"Ugh…" Sonic groaned as he closed the door and went back upstairs while Eggman hopped onto the couch.

"Wh-What's goin' on?" Roll mumbled, hearing the bedroom door shut.

"Eggman's base was destroyed, so we're calling a truce and letting him stay here for a few days…" Sonic replied as he hopped into his hammock, "Oh, and he brought his little robots, Orbot and Cubot with him since 'they're family'."

"Oh...I see…" Roll yawned, "Just as long as he doesn't dig through my dresser, he can stay, in my opinion…"

"Right…" Sonic nodded as he began to fall back asleep, _'Why do I feel like I'm gonna regret this?'_

* * *

Sonic scrubbed his gloves after washing his face. It had been routine for the last few days since Roll had moved in since she refused to let him eat breakfast unless he did. The door opening made Sonic look to see a pale Eggman walk in, wearing pink footy pajamas with his logo on the chest, and began washing his own face.

"..." Eggman wiped his face dry before looking directly at Sonic, "Your girlfriend terrifies me."

"...What did you do?"

"I asked when breakfast was ready and she asked if I washed my hands and face. I said 'no' and she got this scary look in her eyes and, well, I was not going to at first but the look only grew scarier," Eggman explained as he began to wash his own gloves, "I swear, I haven't been that scared of a _look_ since I used to live with Mama Eggman."

"...Mama Eggman?" Sonic raised a brow at that before shuddering at the mental image of Eggman in a dress.

"Fortunately, she's locked up in a maximum security retirement home," Eggman muttered.

"...Just finish cleaning up so we can eat breakfast," Sonic sighed as he began drying his hands, the hedgehog yawning a bit.

* * *

 ***THUD***

"Good morning, Sticks," Roll greeted as the badger opened the door while rubbing her nose, "I trust you washed your hands and face?"

"Uh-huh. I still don't get how you make it so good, either. ...You're not secretly hypnotize me with food, are you?"

"Um…no?"

"...Okay then! Oh, and I brought company," Sticks added as she, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles walked on, only to stop when they spotted Eggman, "?!"

"Eggman?!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Oh, hey gang! Didn't know you'd be visiting so early. I'm still in my evil pajamas. They have a trapdoor in the back," Eggman greeted, showing them he had a buttflap on his footy pajamas.

"...What's _he_ doing here?" Knuckles asked with a frown.

"We have a…" Sonic paused as he yawned a bit, "Truce. We're letting him stay here until his lair is rebuilt."

"Seriously?" Tails asked.

"Ahem!" Eggman cleared his throat, now sitting on the couch, "Um, I'm still waiting on my Salmon Eggs Benedict!"

"Of course. Oh, before I come with it, I must ask; do you want the yellow of the eggs in it?" Roll asked, "Or are you trying to watch your cholesterol?"

"The latter. Oh, and please tell me the salmon isn't farm raised," Eggman said.

"Where do you think you are? Prison Island?" Roll asked as she walked out with a tray of his meal, "No. I caught the fish myself since I never trust farm-raised fish. Too many chemicals in them."

"...Sonic, you picked yourself a real winner with this one," Eggman grinned, "She knows exactly what foods are good for you and stuff."

"And they're really yummy, too!" Knuckles beamed.

"It's all some evil plot, man! First he lures us in with some terrible roommate hooey, but then wham! Out comes this fifty-foot Obliterator Bot that obliterates us all!" Sticks freaked before inhaling some air, "We gotta get outta here."

"Guys, we have to help him," Amy spoke as she stopped Sticks from running out, "If we don't, we'll be no better than he is."

"Yeah…" Eggman spoke up, pausing from eating his breakfast, "You'll be no better than I am."

"Think about how this is for him," Amy went on.

"Very true. And it is a Truce, so we won't have to deal with robot attacks every three hours," Roll added while Amy approached Eggman.

" Do you feel scared without a home? Do you feel alone? Are you eating your feelings?" Amy asked in concern.

"...Somebody get her away from me," Eggman demanded as he scooted away from the pink hedgehog.

"Okay, okay," Roll gently pushed Amy away from Eggman and to the chair nearby, "Let's all just enjoy our meals. We have a nice fruit salad, some pancakes, waffles, a bit of bacon, a bit of tofu bacon, and a Sticks about to pounce and will be made to sit in the corner if she doesn't remember to give thanks to her food."

"Gh?!" Sticks tensed, pausing from her attempted leap before she stood still and began praying.

"Good girl," Roll smiled.

"I'm still amazed you got her to do something like that," Amy admitted.

"You just need to know the right words is all and be clear in how you explain them to her," Roll replied, "Also, Orbot, Cubot, thank you very much for helping me with the kitchen this morning. I see why Dr. Eggman likes to have you both with him."

"Guys, if Eggman needs to stay, he can stay. Who knows? He may not be so bad after all," Tails noted, earning a smile from Eggman.

* * *

"Pillow fight!" Eggman shouted as he swatted Tails with a pillow, causing him to drop and break his tool, earning a glare from the twin-tailed fox, "Heh heh heh."

* * *

"Zzzzz! Heh heh heh! Zzzz!" Eggman snored loudly, loud enough for both Sonic and Roll to hear upstairs as they covered their ears.

* * *

Sticks poked into the kitchen of Sonic and Roll's hut. She peeked around and saw no one before sneaking over to the kitchen. She opened the fridge before gawking. Everything was put into red and black containers with Eggman's logo on them...with a reinforced lock on them all. All that was left was a single, shriveled radish.

"...Aw man…" Sticks sighed.

* * *

"...huh...wh-what?" Sonic muttered as he felt something soft hit him in the face, "Th...that better not be your tail again, Ro…" he opened his eyes...to see Eggman with a pillow looming over him, "...No n-"

"PILLOW FIGHT!"

* * *

Roll spat out a feather as she and Sonic sat in Amy's living room, on the couch.

"I'm serious! I've had enough of Eggman! Lair or no lair, he's outta here!" Sonic informed.

"Even if Orbot and Cubot have been quite helpful with chores, I have to agree," Roll agreed, her tail flicking angrily.

"You can't just throw Eggman out. Sure, he might be a difficult roommate, but it's only because you guys have a communication problem," Amy defended.

"'Communication problem?'" Tails repeated as he poked his head over the couch, "He whacked me with a pillow! HARD! I'm dizzy, and I serious short term memory loss…and I have serious short term memory loss."

"...Let's get Miyuki on him," Knuckles suggested, poking out from behind the couch, revealing Tails was on his shoulder.

"What'd he do to you?" Roll asked.

"Oh, he left the toilet seat up," Knuckles replied.

"...Okay," Amy spoke as she stood up, "How about this? Why don't we settle it with a roommate meeting?"

"...Okay. But if it fails, I am requesting Miyuki's interference in the situation," Roll informed.

"...Noted," Amy nodded.

* * *

"Now, Sonic, Roll… Do you have something you want to share with Eggman?" Amy asked, the pink hedgehog sitting between the two couches holding Eggman, Cubot, and Orbot on one and Roll and Sonic on the other.

"I do not like surprise Pillow Fights when I'm sleeping," Roll stated.

"Hmm…How do I put this delicately…" Sonic pondered for a moment, "...You're a horrible roommate and no one in this house likes you."

"How about we frame our statements with 'when you do this, it makes me feel this?'" Amy suggested.

"That works?" Roll asked, raising a brow in disbelief.

"Fine. Okay, uh... let's see... 'When you live here, it makes me feel angry.' ...Because you're a horrible roommate and nobody in this house likes you," Sonic stated.

 _'Swing and a miss,'_ Amy mentally sighed as Eggman burst into tears.

"You're right. I am the worst roommate. It-it-it... I've never lived with other people before!" Eggman explained.

"What about us?" Cubot asked.

"You don't count," Eggman quickly snapped, causing Cubot to slump before he resumed bawling his eyes out.

"Roll, Sonic, I think someone here could go for two spoonfuls of forgiveness, washed down with a tall glass of friendship. What do you think?" Amy asked.

"...So long as he doesn't come into our room at night for surprise pillow fights when we're sleeping," Roll informed.

"...Ugh. Eggman, if we give you a second chance, do you promise to shape up?" Sonic asked the doctor.

"You bet!" Eggman replied, doing a complete 180 as he snapped his fingers.

"Perfect!" Amy beamed as she stood up, "Roommate meeting group hug…"

"Wait, what?" Roll blinked before she, Amy, and Sonic were pulled into a hug by Eggman.

"Sir, can w-" Orbot began.

"Not you two," Eggman hissed at the two robots, causing them to slump.

Once he let them go, Roll scooped the two into a hug.

"Yay!" Cubot cheered.

* * *

" _Scrubbing all the dishes with my sponge and soap~!_ " Eggman sang as he cleaned the dishes, earning a slight eye roll from Sonic as he walked into the room, " _Scrubbing all the dishes, it's cleaning up my hope~!_ Cue the horn!"

 ***HONK***

"..." Roll, Cubot, Orbot, and Eggman looked up at the hole in the ceiling shaped like Sonic before the latter three looked at Roll, who sheepishly hid the horn she blew behind her back.

* * *

Eggman hummed a bit as he dusted off the tree in the Prower hut's living room before noticing Tails reading a book, a pillow behind him. When Eggman picked the pillow up, he….began fluffing it before putting it back down behind the twin-tailed fox.

* * *

"37, 38, 39…" Eggman counted as he moved his game piece on a game board he, Sonic, Tails, and Roll were playing, "Triple Star Bonus Kazoo!" he pulled out a kazoo and blew it, startling the tired Sonic and Tails, "I've won again!"

"Nice job," Roll politely clapped with Orbot and Cubot.

"Ahh…That's great…" Sonic yawned, "It's getting late. Time to hit the hay…"

"Aw…" Roll pouted, "I was hoping we'd try some of the others games. This is the first time I've been able to play them without Sticks trying to break one of the pieces and claiming there's a listening device in it."

"Yeah, come on! Just one more game…" Eggman begged as he pulled Sonic and Tails close, "That's what good roomies do! We have fun!"

"...I'm all for fun and all, but aren't you guys tired? Orbot? Cubot?" Sonic asked the two.

"Roll had us recharge earlier when Dr. Eggman suggested a game night," Orbot explained, "We're good."

"..." Sonic looked at Roll, who zipped into the kitchen and out with a tray full of cups of hot chocolate.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about them getting tired anyways," Eggman assured them, "They're robots. They don't get tired because they don't have souls."

"Hey!" Orbot exclaimed.

"He's right…" Cubot sighed.

"I think you both have souls," Roll assured, lightly patting Cubot's head once she finished handing out the drinks.

"Whatever. Good night, guys," Sonic muttered before Roll was before him, giving him big, watery eyes.

"Please~?" Roll begged, making his lower lip tremble.

"Roll, I…" Sonic began.

"Just hang out a little longer. I'm so lonely! Please, roomie?" Eggman pleaded as well.

"..." Sonic sighed as he walked over to the game shelf, "So what board game do you want to play next?"

"YAY!" Eggman and Roll cheered, the former blowing his kazoo again.

* * *

 ***THUD***

"I don't smell breakfast!" Sticks called as she opened the door, letting herself, Amy, and Knuckles enter to see Sonic and Tails groaning on the floor, bags under their eyes while Roll was asleep on the couch, a blanket over her and hugging one of her plushies.

"You're _still_ hanging with Eggman? How many hours of sleep did you get?" Knuckles asked.

"Aside from Roll? Zero," Sonic groaned.

" It's Stage Two of his evil plot, man! We are minutes away from him summoning his big Obliterator Bot with its... obliterator legs! And its obliter-bator feet!" Sticks freaked, "And without yummy breakfast to give us a ton of energy!"

"Sticks... stop being paranoid!" Amy scolded as Eggman left the hut, "Eggman's lived here for two days, and he hasn't hatched a single evil scheme!"

It was then everyone heard Eggman begin to cackle madly. Roll yawned as she got up and Orbot floated over, giving her a cup of hot chocolate. She drank it as everyone went out to see what was going on, Sonic and Tails being the slowest to get out to see Eggman laughing on top of a rock.

"What's so…" Tails paused to yawn, "...funny?"

"Remember when I said my island fortress was destroyed by a storm? I... uh... may have fibbed. You see, I kind of faked the destruction of my fortress as an excuse to live with you and tire you to the point of exhaust-Roll, he fell asleep," Eggman paused.

 ***smack***

"Thank you," Eggman thanked, "Tire you to the point of exhaustion!" he ran over to a tree, "So you'd be too tired to stop Obliterator Bot!" he moved out of the way as the tree collapsed, revealing a large red and black robot resembling a construction worker with a chainsaw for a hand, "Hee hee hee."

"I knew it. He _did_ have an Obliterator Bot!" Sticks exclaimed as she jumped onto Knuckles's shoulder, "Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?! It's not like I'm paranoid!" she growled at her shadow, "STOP! FOLLOWING! ME!"

"So...So does this mean the game night didn't mean anything?" Roll asked, her ears drooping sadly.

"Ah! No, I did rather enjoy that. Meant quite a lot," Eggman replied, "But business before pleasure. Obliterator Bot, destroy Sonic and his four friends!"

=Four...tress? Destroy Island fortress=

"Wait, what?" Eggman's eyes widened as he began to type on his wrist device, "No! That's not what I said at all!"

"We're still working out a few kinks," Orbot stated, poking out of Sonic and Roll's hut with Cubot.

"Obliterator Bot, Do not destroy Island Fortress!" Eggman ordered, trying to stop the robot as he held onto its leg, "I repeat; Do not destroy Island Fortress!"

=Affirmative. Play up-beat tempo music while destroying island fortress= Obliterator-Bot responded as speakers came out of his shoulders and began to play rock music as he continued on his path.

"No~~!" Eggman screamed as his robot walked away, the doctor quickly turning to Sonic, "Sonic, you have to help me!"

"Why? It's your…Obliterator Bot," Sonic yawned.

"Because if you don't, I really will be your roommate from now on. Possibly for like...forever until I build a new island fortress."

"?!" Sonic's eyes widened in pure, abject horror, "Okay. Let's roll."

* * *

Tails' plane and Eggman's flying vehicle flew through the air until they landed at Eggman's island fortress, the place in shambles as Obliterator Bot attacked it.

"...Gotta...stop him...but so…" Tails paused as he yawned and began to fall down, "Tired…Zzzz..."

"He must have a weak spot," Knuckles noted as Roll moved to her right while picking up Tails, a piece of debris landing where she and Tails had been.

"Maybe there's a clue on the ground…" Sonic yawned as he sunk to the ground, "This soft... soft... bed-like... ground…" he fell asleep before Sticks jumped on him repeatedly, "What?! What's wrong?! Are we under attack?!" he jumped up before remembering what waas going on, "...Oh...right."

"Eggman, you built that thing, so how do we take it down?" Knuckles asked the doctor.

"By activating two kill switches at the same time. They're inside the lair, over there…" Eggman paused as he pointed to the left before pointing to the right, "And there."

"Oh come on…" Sonic groaned, "...okay. Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, you distract that thing. Tails and I are on the kill switches. Eggman, you'll have to show us how to activate them."

"And what can I do?" everyone slowly turned to look at Roll, blinking a bit in surprise, "...what?"

"...If they fall asleep, blow this," Eggman handed her the horn from yesterday.

"Okay!" Roll saluted.

"Pre-mission group hug?" Amy asked as she held her arms out.

"Yes/No," the two speedsters replied before Roll gave Amy a quick hug before following after Sonic, Tails on her back.

Sonic blurred past each of the turrets, dodging their lasers as he came up to a laser fence. On Tails and Roll's side, the twin-tailed fox activated one of the consoles and pressed a few things on it, deactivating the laser fence on Sonic's side as the Hedgehog ran through it, falling asleep in the process as he slid under two more lasers. Tails deactivated the second laser wall just in time as Sonic slid through and comes to a stop, waking up again. Tails soon opened up a panel on his and Roll's side, revealing a set of wires, te young fox yawning as he knelt down, nearly falling asleep. Sonic had reached a closed door, about to walk up to it before he ended up falling asleep on the ground, snoring a bit.

Roll sighed, tapping on Tails's EnerBeam to contact Sonic, "Noise in the hole."

 ***HONK***

"GAH!" both boys screamed as they jumped up.

"You're welcome," Roll smiled.

"R...right," Tails nodded as he quickly pressed a button on the opened panel, causing the closed doors on his and Sonic's side to open.

"Good! Now Sonic, jam the Kinetic Barrier Processor! The Kinetic Barrier Processor!" Eggman called out to Sonic before shouting to Tails, "And you! Power down the Central operating system!"

The two nodded before they pulled the kill switches. With the others, Obliterator-Bot had jumped down, ready to fight them.

"I knew you were coming. But you will never obliterate Sticks, because Sticks is unoblite— unoble— unobitababl…" Stick frowned before finally crossing her arms with a huff, "You can't kill me."

Obliterator Bot narrowed its optics as it prepared to attack, only to twitch as it shut down. Roll ran over just in time to see it shut down before noticing a sheet of metal. She looked between the two before whistling at Knuckles, earning his attention.

"Pillow fight!" Roll called, grunting a little as she pushed up the sheet of metal while her tail pointed at Obliterator-Bot.

Knuckles quickly grabbed her and tossed her into the air, the hedgefox holding up the sheet of metal before slamming it on Obliterator-bot's head, taking it clean off as it fell to the metal floor.

"Yes!" Eggman pumped his fist in victory...before his island fortress exploded, "...No…."

"Well, you're more than welcome to stay for a few m..." Roll offered before Sonic shot by, grabbed her, and actually ran right across the water, leaving behind a note that simply read 'NO.'

"...Ooh! I could keep you company! Let's explore your feelings about being a roommate. Now…" Amy paused as she pulled out a balloon, "Let's pretend this balloon is your self esteem."

"Stop. Stop! STOP!" Eggman screamed as he ran away from her.

* * *

"Mou...Why did you do that?" Roll pouted as Sonic walked into the living room, finally rested up.

"Do you seriously want to deal with another few weeks of Eggman?" Sonic asked, "Or do you WANT him to keep attacking you in your sleep with pillows?"

"We could've made an agreement that there'd be no surprise Pillow Fights," Roll replied, "Plus, it was kinda nice being able to play a board game for a lot of players without something happening like the board being thrown, the paper money being ripped in two in frustration, or the pieces being broken open to check for spy devices."

"...Good points, but I have a retort. Marathons of Comedy Chimp...every...single...night."

"...You know how I feel about his talk show," Roll frowned, her ears flattening on her head.

"Yup, but Eggman likes him," Sonic countered once more, "If Eggman stayed with us, you'd have to deal with watching him every single night."

"...On second thought, a few weeks out in the wilderness will do Dr. Eggman some good."

"Still, you got a pass since you got to fall asleep after the games," Sonic frowned.

"I warned him what happens when a lady of the Sakurai clan doesn't get enough sleep after the surprise Pillow Fight," Roll replied.

"What happens?" Sonic asked before Roll whispered it into his ear, causing him to pale, "...Now I'm _really_ glad he let you get those hours of sleep."

"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go fix up the mess Eggman made in our home," Roll stated with a small smile as she walked off, "Orbot, brooms. Cubot, mops."

"Wait, what?" Sonic blinked.

"They were still here when we got back, so I invited them to stay," Roll replied as the two robots went to work.

"Aw come on..." Sonic groaned.

* * *

 **Read and review please!**


	4. In which Sticks gets a pet

**A lot of stuff is gonna be different, but also more or less the same. That's what happens when you have someone there to mitigate issues or cause new ones.**

* * *

"Thanks for helping me with getting some groceries," Amy thanked as she and the others walked down the village, the guys all carrying bags of food, "I didn't realize I was getting so low on food."

"Oh, it's no problem, Amy. I'm glad to help a friend out," Roll smiled before she noticed a ice cream stand, "Ooh! Perhaps some ice cream will do us some good?"

"Good thing there's not a line," Tails noted, "We can just get our ice cream and get the frozen stuff to Amy's house before it defrosts."

"Cool. Allow…" Sonic began before a fireman-themed Robot jumped down, using a flamethrower to destroy the ice cream stand, "...Me."

"Ah! My strawberry-flavored ice cream…" Roll dropped to her knees in shock.

"...Okay. This has Eggman written all over it," Sonic frowned.

"Why does everyone assume every evil robot is mine?!" Eggman asked as he looked up from a newspaper.

"I don't know, experience?" Sonic deadpanned before dodging the fire robot's flames.

"You're fired, pal!" Knuckles shouted as he threw a punch at the robot, who jumped away, "Get it?"

 ***FWOOM***

"...Guess not," Knuckles coughed, licking his fingers and extinguishing the fire on one of his dreadlocks.

"Shouldn't firemen put out fires?" Amy pointed out.

"Uh, hello? That's the irony," Eggman answered, "It's the evil opposite of a fireman…Uh, I mean, I assume...heh heh." he looked to his left to see Roll in fetal position, "...Are you okay?"

"Why the poor strawberries?" Roll mumbled sadly.

"...This is another one of those Sakurai family things, isn't it?" Eggman asked.

"Mourning for the loss of strawberries," Roll confirmed.

"Sonic!" Sticks called out, earning the hedgehog's attention, "The Evil Fireman robot is putting the baby walrus _into_ a burning house!"

"WHAT?!" Roll exclaimed, "Aw come on!"

"Well, that was a quick mourning," Eggman noted as Roll rammed into the robot, causing it to drop the baby into her arms, before she ran back and resumed her mourning, the baby now giggling while playing with her tail, "...or not."

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, earning Sonic's attention, "The Evil anti-fire bot is putting a kitten _in_ a tree!"

"Go evil Fireman!" Eggman cheered on, earning looks from the others, even from the baby (though not Roll since she was still mourning), "...Okay. I admit it. It's mine. Evil robots are what I do. Why stop if you're good at it?"

The fireman-themed robot jumped down and aimed its flamethrower at some people, who began to run as they dodged the flames.

"Oh no! The Evil anti fireman is about to attack that fruit stand!" Knuckles gasped, "And they just laid out fresh strawberries too!"

"?!" Roll's eyes widened before Knuckles found himself holding the walrus baby.

The Anti-Firebot aimed his weapon at the stand before a blur slammed into it, making it stumble back. The blur shot out, ramming into it again. The blur shot by the market behind the robot and back out, a few dollars on the counter. The anti-firebot aimed once more...

 ***SHINK***

Before its head fell off its neck while the fuel pack on its back exploded. Roll tossed the rather larger kitchen knife in her hand repeatedly while leveling a cold glare at the remains of the robot. Knuckles blinked twice as he now noticed he had the baby.

"No one. Touches. The Strawberries," Roll glowered.

"...I uh….left the oven on," Eggman meeped as he ran out of there.

"Whoa. Pretty nice, Roll," Knuckles noted as Roll put the knife away in her clothes before she picked up the baby in his arms and gave him to his mother.

"There's a thing called a baby harness, ma'am. It will help keep him from getting into too much danger," Roll advised.

"My baby! Oh thank you, dear," Lady Walrus thanked before she walked off.

"...She's not going to get one, is she?" Roll asked.

"Nope/nuh uh/most likely not."

"..." Roll sighed before a scared mew caught her attention, "Hm?" she looked up at the tree, "Oh! I almost forgot the kitty."

"I got it!" Sticks called out as she ran to the tree...and began to shake it like a madwomen, scaring the kitten as it held onto the shaking branch.

"Sticks!" Roll yelped as she ran over, "Stop it! You're scaring the kitty!"

"No I'm not. I'm trying to get it down!" Sticks stated before the kitten fell out, landing in Roll's arms, "See?"

"..."

"...What?" Sticks asked as Roll frowned at her.

* * *

"Sticks, we want to talk about how you treat animals," Sonic informed as the group sat in Tails' hut.

"It's not a good idea to shake kittens out of trees," Amy added.

"You do it again around me and we _will_ have problems," Roll frowned, the kitten in her lap.

"Hey, I know the law of the Jungle. Trees are no kitten zones," Sticks countered.

"That's a real law?" Knuckles asked, earning a facepalm from Tails, "...What?"

"You should get a pet. It would help you learn to love animals!" Amy suggested.

"...Are you sure getting her a live pet is a good idea?" Roll whispered.

"I'm absolutely sure," Amy nodded, "Right, Sonic?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

"Then you can take Sticks pet shopping."

"No. Absolutely not."

* * *

"Why not this one?" Roll asked as the three stood in an outdoor pet shop.

"Nuh uh! I hate cute, fuzzy, and adorable," Sticks shook her head before looking at a pair of squirrels, "Too cute!" she then looked at a rabbit, "Too fuzzy!" she then looked at three little monkeys "Too….hng! Adorable!"

"I see…" Roll nodded slowly before looking at the kitten in her arms, "Well, I need to do a few things while we're still here, so just keep trying. Maybe a snake?"

"Absolutely not," Sticks and Sonic frowned as Roll went over to the vet area of the shop.

A rattle soon caught Stick's attention, making her look at a nearby trashcan before she ran up to it and looked inside. Her eyes widened a bit as she crawled inside and picked up what looked like a robotic dog...a poorly made one at that. Its body seemed to be made of a pink and yellow toolbox with a crank handle for a tail with slime dripping from its mouth.

"It's…..oh it's…."

"Disgusting?" Sonic offered.

"The least objectionable option!" Sticks replied before she began to cuddle it, "Aww, who's a little cluster-wuster? I'm gonna name 'im Buster!"

"...Buster the Cluster?" Sonic raised a brow before the now named Buster spat slime in his face, "..."

"Aw~ I think he likes you," Sticks noted.

* * *

Buster barked as he waddled around Stick's burrow, sniffing everything with his light bulb nose. Aside from Sticks, who was pulling out a bone, the others were at her stone table, the kitten asleep in Roll's arms, a pink collar on its neck.

"Uh, Sticks? When I said 'get a pet', I didn't think you'd come back with something so….so…" Amy traield off.

"Wonderful?" Sticks smiled as Buster threw up a bit of slime.

"Ucky," Knuckles replied.

"Sticks, are you sure you wanna keep this, uh...Cluster?" Sonic asked.

"Ahem. His name is 'Buster,'" Sticks corrected as Buster spat slime on his new bone, "Finally, I have an adorable little pet that doesn't disgust me!"

"Kinda ironic, though. I mean, you hate machines," Tails noted before Buster sprayed him in the face with slime, "Ugh! Buster got slime in my fur!"

"That just means he wuvs you," Sticks cooed as she kissed Buster, getting a bit of the slime on her lips, "So what about you, Roll? You want a Pet Play Time with Buster?"

"Um...Thank you, no," Roll replied, "I'd rather let Tempo get used to Sonic and my home first along with everyone before any Pet Play Dates happen."

"Uh-uh. No dating for Buster until he's three," Sticks shook her head, "That's 21 in Cluster years."

"...I see…." Roll noted, sweatdropping a bit.

* * *

A few days passed since Sticks adopted her new pet….who seemed to get on everyone else's nerves. So far, Buster had eaten Amy's ice cream, tripped Sonic up during a morning jog, caused Knuckles to drop his weight set, and Tails having the device he was working hard on eaten right before him, all while getting slime on them. Currently, everyone was at Meh Burger...with all but Sticks and Roll being covered in slime in some way. Buster burped up a bit more slime and Roll held up a plastic bag that collected it before it could hit her. She sealed the bag and tossed it into the trash can behind her...all while she didn't let her eyes divert from making sure Dave was doing his work properly, the guy perfectly aware of her eyes focused on him and fearing the consequences.

"Who's a hungwy wittle Cluster~?" Sticks cooed as she nuzzled her cheek against Buster, who ended up spitting slime on everyone else's food, "Who's a hungwy wittle Clutser Wuster~?"

"Would Buster like a french fry? I don't want any. _They've got slime on 'em_!" Tails snapped at the end.

"Ubupbup! We only eat organic garbage now," Sticks clarified before looking back at her pet, "Don't we, Buster~?"

Buster barked twice in confirmation, slime once more trying to hit Roll, only to be bagged and tossed once more...this time directly at Dave when he tried to serve a still-living fish to a customer.

"Help! Help!" a security guard screamed, getting their attention as he ran by, "Someone is robbing the Danger Co. Deadly Equipment warehouse!" he stopped for a moment to look at them, "Seriously. Help!"

"...Who allowed that kind of warehouse to be made?" Roll asked.

"The Mayor," everyone replied.

"...I demand a re-election!" Roll snapped before the doors of the warehouse exploded, letting Orbot and Cubot in poor disguises made of paper cutouts of Sonic and Tails's faces float out with bags on their backs.

"Cybernetic tentacles; check! Deadly Nanobots; Check! Evil spare parts; check!" Cubot checked off on a list.

"...How are they evil again?" Orbot asked, earning a shrug from Cubot before they noticed Sonic run over, "Uh oh, it's Sonic! Let's grab the boxes and go!"

"Buzzbombers, you take care of him!" Cubot ordered the bee-themed robots that flew out of the warehouse as they ran.

"They've gone 'round back. Someone stop them!" Sonic ordered.

"I've got 'em!" Knuckles declared as he tried to hit one of the Buzzbombers, only to miss.

"...Uh, Sticks?! A little help here?!" Sonic called out.

"I don't want to put Buster in danger!" Sticks exclaimed, holding her pet close before putting a leash on him, "Besides, it's time for his walkies~"

"Seriously? Am I just invisible or something?" Roll muttered as she ran around the back, startling Orbot and Cubot, "Hold it!"

"Eek!"

"...Did you just scream like a little girl?" Cubot asked, slowly looking at Orbot.

"She took me by surprise," Orbot quickly replied before gasping, "Oh dear! A cart of strawberries?! No! Don't attack those!"

"What?!" Roll turned around, seeing nothing, "...Curse the kami who cursed us to love strawberries enough to lose common sense at times…"

"I got them!" Sonic shouted as he ran after the two robots, only to end up tripping on Buster when he got in the way, causing him to skid along the ground face first, "...Grrr…"

Buster yipped before licking his face, covering it in slime, before waddling back over to Sticks. Sonic's eye twitched as Sticks cuddled Buster.

 _'...Okay that's it….time for a talk!'_ Sonic thought.

* * *

"Sticks, we have to talk," Amy informed, everyone outside Sonic and Roll's hut.

"...Oh no…"

"I'm afraid so, Sticks. W-" Sonic began.

"You brought him a Cluster sock for our one week anniversary. But you didn't know I already made him one," Sticks replied as she pulled out a green sock with a bone on it.

"Aw…" Roll cooed.

"No, Sticks! Buster is getting in the way of everything!" Amy snapped.

"He ruined our chance to stop those robots," Knuckles stated.

"He got slime all over my equipment! You know how much money my sis spent to get me all those?!" Tails added before he felt something wet trickling on his foot, "...He's going to the bathroom on my foot, isn't he?"

"Yep. For some reason, he spits slime, but whizzes soda," Sticks replied before she narrowed her eyes, "First you say you want me to have a pet, then you say you don't want me to have a pet. I know what's going on here." she jumped up and pointed at the ceiling, "A massive government mind-control experiment!"

Everyone shared looks.

"...That's...one theory. Another is we just want you to show him some dici…" Amy began before she felt something wet on her head, "...He's wizzing on my head, isn't he?"

"No, he's gassy right now," Sticks replied, Buster giving another burp and slime splattered on Amy's face.

"..." Amy's eye began to twitch violently, trying her best to stay calm...and was failing greatly as she pulled out a large hammer, " _THAT'S IT_! Either Buster goes or we go!"

"I'm still not seeing the issue," Roll frowned, "I think Sticks is trying her best to care for her pet and…" Buster burped and some slime shot all the way into the kitchen, hitting a bowl of freshly-watered strawberries that fell to the floor, smashing the bowl, "...Sticks...Did Buster's slime just ruin my strawberries?"

"Um…"

"The ones Sonic and I had to wait _all morning_ yesterday to buy?" Roll's eye twitched, her smile straining.

"Uh…"

"The ones that I was going to use to grow a nice lovely strawberry garden out back so I could enjoy the deliciousness far quicker?" Roll slowly pulled out her recently bought kitchen knife as everyone slowly moved away...while a shivering Buster dropped a liter of soda on the floor.

"...RUN!" Sticks screamed, scooping Buster up and jumping out the window.

"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN TURN THAT THING INTO SASHIMI!" Roll snapped, jumping out the window as well.

"Roll, wait!" Amy shouted as she chased after her, "Save some for me!"

"...Welp. The girls have officially lost it," Sonic deadpanned.

"Yup/uh huh."

"...Can we hide until they calm down?" Knuckles gulped.

"Yeah/Good idea."

* * *

"Okay...everything is good and set," Eggman said as he walked through the woods, carrying a black and white box with a ribbon on it, "Once that little Cluster eats this, th-"

"DON'T HURT MY BUSTER-WUSTER!"

"(YOU SHALL DIE FOR YOUR DISHONOR TO MY STRAWBERRIES!)"

"Roll, you dropped your Universal Translator!"

"Huh?" Eggman blinked as he looked forward, seeing Sticks run from a very….very….VERY angry Roll, "..." Eggman did not scream like a little girl and start running with Sticks, that he did not, "Eeek!" ...okay, I lied.

"Eggman?! What're you doing here?!" Sticks asked as they ran.

"I was gonna give your pet a present, but I'm busy running from a very scary hedgefox right now!"

"(DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!)"

"Why is she like this?!" Eggman asked, "And why isn't she running at full speed?"

"Anger's clouding her mind!" Sticks replied, "Don't remind her of it!" Buster whimpered in her arms, "There, there, Buster-Wuster. She won't get you!"

"...On second thought, give it to him now," Eggman whispered as he gave her the present, "Was gonna use this to destroy Sonic, but this a better situation!"

"What is it?" Sticks asked as she unwrapped it with her teeth, revealing it to be a metallic bone, "A bone? Wh-"

"No time to explain! Have him eat it now or we're dead!"

"Hey! Roll, that's my…"

 ***PIKO***

"Eek!" Eggman once more _did not_ scream like a little girl as Amy's thrown hammer barely missed them.

Buster's ears perked up as he noticed the metal bone, the robo-dog biting it before eating it in one bite. Once he gulped it down, Buster tensed up as he began to twitch, his optics turning red as he began to grow in size, his limbs being replaced with metallic tentacles. Buster roared...before picking up Sticks and Eggman and started running once more, yiping in fear.

"Wow! Buster got big!" Sticks exclaimed.

"Of course he did. He's a Slime Bot," Eggman explained.

"Isn't that the tentacle from the robbery?" Sticks asked.

"Oh please. I used that tentacle as a backscratcher. When I was done scratching, I used it to build him."

"Oh...w-"

"(GET BACK HERE AND DIE!)"

"Uh...Oh! Buster, burp, boy!" Sticks called.

 ***URP***

"EW!" Amy screamed as she and Roll slipped about before smacking into each other, knocking them out.

"...Good, giant Buster!" Sticks cooed, petting her pet's head, "Who's a good giant Buster-wuster? You are! You awe!"

"Good...now my creation, d-" Eggman began.

"Oh by the way, Buster, take out the trash."

"Huh?!"

"I may be crazy, but I didn't forget the part where you said you were gonna use Buster to destroy Sonic."

"...What?! No, bad Buster! Don't throw your creator!" Eggman freaked before one of Buster's tentacles grabbed him, "No!" Buster threw him into the distance, "I'm never making one of these agaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnn!"

"Now give the bone back," Sticks ordered.

Buster whimpered a bit before he threw up the bone, causing him to shrink back down in size as he changed back to normal, the tentacles becoming his normal limbs again. Sticks giggled as she patted his head.

"Good, Buster," Sticks smiled before looking at the slime-covered area where Roll and Amy were knocked out in, "...For some reason, this would be better if they weren't in so many clothes." Buster barked twice, "What? Mud? Now that's silly, you silly willy Cluster-Wuster."

 ***WHAM***

"...Oh, so _that's_ why Roll didn't have the bad thing happen," Sticks blinked twice, looking at Sonic now stuck in the tree beside them.

"Tails reminded me…" Sonic groaned before a coconut clonked him on the head, "...Ow."

* * *

"Owie…" Roll groaned as she opened her eyes.

"Hello, Roll-chan, kyu," Miyuki greeted, the nine-tailed vixen standing before her, "How're you feeling?"

"...Ano, am I…?"

"In my bed, hai. I carried you back to my place when I ran into Sticks and her pet, kyu."

"...Is it still here?" Roll asked.

"Iie. Sticks let it go into the wild with a little sack on a stick like in those cartoons, kyu," Miyuki explained, "Oh by the way, we're having some takoyaki for dinner. Care to join us?"

"...Um….why…?"

"An octopus tried to eat my little brother when he tried adopting it. It immediately regretted it afterwards, kyu."

"I...I see…" Roll nodded, "Thank you."

"No problem, kyu."

Roll slid out of Miyuki's bed and followed her out. Her eyes widened when she saw everyone at the table, Sticks standing in front of it with a basket of strawberries.

"I know it's not the ones you lost. But I stayed in that line to make sure I got some new ones," Sticks explained, "For some reason, people don't like it when you compliment them on them being ready for winter and made the line shorter so I could get the last one."

"..."

"So….do you forgive me? Because I'm really sorry for what Buster did," Sticks apologized before Roll hugged her.

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Roll thanked quickly, her tail wagging like mad.

"I'm guessing she forgives you," Amy spoke.

"But if you let Buster ever come anywhere near me ever again, I will destroy it without mercy."

"...mostly," Amy cringed.

"Fair enough," Sticks nervously nodded, "Now let's please eat the taco-yucky."

"Takoyaki, Sticks, kyu," Miyuki corrected her.

"Of course. ...You…"

"I washed my face and hands. Miyuki's per...purr...she knows what you do," Sticks replied.

"I like to keep a very clean household, kyu," Miyuki informed.

"I'm glad to hear," Roll nodded.

* * *

 **Read and review please!**


	5. In which Sticks wins an Awardy Award

**A lot of stuff is gonna be different, but also more or less the same. That's what happens when you have someone there to mitigate issues or cause new ones.**

* * *

Today seemed like a normal day. The clouds were floating in the air, the birds were feeding their young, new flowers began to grow, and a fiery rain of meteors began to fall from the sk-well that didn't last very long!

"...Meteors…" Roll sighed, "I...I shouldn't be shocked by this happening here, but...but here I am. Shocked."

"I thought your name was 'Roll,'" Knuckles noted.

"Actually, Roll, we shouldn't be shocked or running. We should be making wishes," Amy smiled before gasping, "I wish for a pony!"

"And I wish you'd take cover," Sonic quipped as he grabbed Amy and moved her out of the way of a meteor's path, smashing into the cart behind them.

"My cabbages!"

"He seriously needs to stop putting his cart in places it could get smashed," Tails deadpanned.

"How come _your_ wish came true?" Amy pouted before Roll held up a pony made of folded paper.

"Here you go," Roll tried to joke.

"Hmm…" Sticks muttered as she looked up at the sky, "...Should I use my meteor defense system?"

"...You have an MDS?" Roll blinked twice.

"I have defense systems for all sorts of junk," Sticks answered before walking up to a wooden console, "Wildfires, floods, people trying to read my thoughts…"

"Yeah, start with the meteor one," Sonic ordered.

"Gotcha!" Sticks nodded as she pulled a lever, causing a wooden paddle to pop up as it smacked one of the meteors back, another one popping up as it did the same, followed by...welp, you know where this is going, "The people trying to read my thoughts one is exactly the same, but with tinfoil trim."

"Must be painful," Roll noted.

"True, but it works," Sticks shrugged.

* * *

Roll yawned as she opened her eyes before yelping as Sticks was only a few inches away from her face. She fell out of her hammock, her nightgown riding up from the fall.

"S-Sticks?!" Roll exclaimed as she got up, fixing her nightgown.

"She couldn't wait," Amy replied, standing at the doorway.

"Someone left this at my house," Sticks explained, showing Roll and Amy a letter.

"...It's a letter…" Roll deadpanned, _'Sweet kami, it's too early for this…'_

Sonic mumbled in his hammock, causing the three to look at him. Roll made a 'shh' motion and the three walked downstairs. A few minutes later, the three were at the kitchen table, drinking cups of hot chocolate.

"A mailman left this at your home," Roll explained.

"Letter, huh? I don't know. Paper folded over itself? What's it hiding? What's it hiding?" Sticks pondered before Amy took the letter and opened it, "...Oh. It's hiding more folded paper."

"...Ahh…" Amy gasped when she read the letter, "Sticks, you've been nominated for an Awardy Award!"

"We really need a better name for that," Tails deadpanned.

"T-Tails! Where'd you come from?" Roll yelped.

"I saw Sticks and Amy coming over," Tails replied.

"Hey! Let me see that!" Knuckles said as he took the letter, taking out a pair of glasses as he tried to read it, "Mmm hmm...hmm…..Yeah I can't read."

"...I'm not even sure why I bother anymore…" Roll muttered before looking at Knuckles, "Wait. You can't read?"

"Nope. Never bothered," Knuckles replied before Sonic took the letter, rubbing his eyes since he was woken up by the commotion.

"Give me that," Sonic frowned as he began to read it, "'In honor of saving our village, the mayor invites you to the Awardys.'"

"...I demand to know when the re-election is," Roll frowned.

"...It says that Sticks isn't allowed to bring you, Roll," Sonic noted, showing her the invitation did specify her to not be invited by Sticks, "...And yet it says she can invite her closest pals."

"...You win this round, Mayor…" Roll scowled before she noticed a humanoid chimp in the place, "...What's _he_ doing here?"

"Huh?" Sonic blinked before he noticed him, "...If it's about the invite, then no. Sorry, Comedy Chimp."

"Mmm…" the chimp pouted as slumped, walking out of the place.

"..." Roll took the invite and looked it over, "...It says you'll need an escort, Sticks." she pulled her knife out and pointed at Comedy Chimp, not once looking at him, "You get out of here or so help me, I'll do to you what I'm going to do to Buster the Cluster when I see him again."

"Gh?!" Comedy Chimp tensed as he ran out of there.

"...Okay, Roll, do we need to have an intervention with you and your knife?" Amy asked.

"I was woken up by being startled," Roll frowned, "I tend to be more...pain happy...when that happens." she gave the invitation back to Sticks, "I'm really glad that you've been nominated."

"I know, right?" Amy beamed, hugging Sticks, "She's so going to win it!"

"Um...about that...I'm not going."

"What?! Why not?!" Amy asked.

"Um...you know…" Sticks began before she pulled out a notebook made of leaves, "I'm slammed this week! See? Tomorrow; rummage through garbage. Wednesday; rummage through garbage. Thursday; get a tetanus shot. Friday; Rummage through garbage...I'm booked solid."

"This is the honor of a lifetime!" Amy argued.

"It's her choice, Amy," Roll noted.

"But read this, Roll," Amy held up the invitation, "'The Awardies will be at the Mayor's Mansion. You'll dine on-' Ooh. 'Elegant food and mingle with elegant guests. After which the Awardy Award will be awarded to the winner. Which could be you!'"

"You might even win a shiny trophy! You love shiny things…" Tails noted.

"I do love shiny things…" Sticks smiled a bit before she shook it off, "No! No. Nuh uh."

"Sticks….are you afraid to go?" Amy asked.

"What? Afraid? No! Of course not! Nuh uh. Nope…" Stick paused for a moment before sighing, "Maybe a little."

"Everyone has something they're afraid of," Roll assured.

"What's important is that you take on your fears," Amy advised.

"Look at me. I'm a feral badger! I'll embarrass myself!"

"Tch. Who cares what people think?" Sonic snorted.

"Yeah. Everyone at these parties is a windbag anyway," Knuckles chuckled before doing a mock bow to Sonic, "What a robust mustache you have, Colonel Grumpkin."

"Why, thank you, Madame Stinkbottom," Sonic snickered before both began to laugh.

"Boys…" Amy and Roll sighed.

"Don't worry, sticks. You'll be fine," Amy assured the badger, "In fact, I'll teach you to be a lady."

"Uh...a lady? Oh! That's the thing that holds garbage, right?"

"No! A lady is a polite, sophisticated member of society. And you can be that! Lesson one: Don't discuss garbage," Amy advised.

"I'm out," Sticks stated.

"Come on! You can do this," Amy encouraged.

Sticks looked between her and Roll before sighing, "Okay. I'll try."

"Good. First, a proper lady needs an escort," Amy noted.

"Well, I can't do it. With how big the Mayor's place is, There's no way Roll and I would be in the max distance," Sonic shook his head before he looked at Tails.

"Huh? M-Me?!" Tails asked.

"Please? I don't wanna embarrass myself in front of fancy folk!" Sticks begged.

"W-Well...O-Okay, I guess…" Tails replied.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Sticks cheered as she hugged Tails.

"We'll have to teach you everything we can by the time this starts," Roll frowned.

"Can you do it, Sticks?"

"Okay! Oh, but I do have one more question…" Sticks said as she pulled out a large snail, "Can I take this snail with me?"

"Uh…"

"Oh! We can get Miyuki as the fourth!" Roll suggested.

"Ooh! Good idea, Roll!" Amy nodded.

"Wait. We're bringing _Miyuki_?" Knuckles gulped nervously.

* * *

"When meeting someone new, start with a compliment. Try saying something nice about their perfume," Amy instructed as they had gathered in the Prower living room, Miyuki standing beside Sticks.

"Okay," Sticks nodded before she began to sniff Miyuki all over, "You don't stink."

"...Um...Good first try, Sticks," Roll assured, "But let's try being subtle with the sniffing, okay? Some people may find it a bit...intrusive on their personal space."

"Oh. Okay," Sticks nodded before sniffing at Miyuki's general direction, "You smell like snow. The white kind, not the yellow kind."

Amy facepalmed.

* * *

"And...go, kyu," Miyuki signaled.

Sticks and Tails walked to the door and a popup of a fancy fox popped up.

"This is my male consort," Sticks introduced before slipping into a defensive stance when the Standee just 'stared' at them, "And if you don't like him, I'll knock you out."

"Oh! No, no, no. Sticks, we don't fight anyone at a fancy event such as this unless something happens, kyu," Miyuki explained, "But if they do start making fun of Tails…" the room grew cold, "Tell me."

"R-Right," Sticks saluted, seeing the glint in Miyuki's eyes at the last bit.

"Good, kyu!" Miyuki beamed before scooping Tails into a cuddly hug, "Oh, I am so proud you are doing this for your friend, kyu!"

* * *

"When in doubt, pinkies out," Amy advised as the four girls sat at a small outdoor table, cups of tea before them.

Amy held up her cup, the back of her hand facing them all, and extended her pinkie to show. She took a small sip of her tea before putting it back on its plate. Sticks held up her tea and extended her pinkie...before lapping the tea like a dog. Miyuki giggled while Amy facepalmed, Roll giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Nearby, Sonic and Knuckle pushed a piano with Tails lying on the top of it.

* * *

"I didn't know you knew how to play piano, kyu," Miyuki noted as Knuckles was playing a gentle tune on it, Tempo curled up on the top and purring softly.

"Heh," Knuckles grinned a little.

"One, two, step. One, two, turn," Amy instructed as Sticks and Tails were practicing a ballroom dance, "One, two, step. One, two, dip."

"Why is the music controlling us? I'm not your puppet, music master," Sticks began to freak out, "I'm not your puppet!"

 ***CRASH***

"...Yeah, she's ready," Sonic noted as Knuckles was now under Sticks, the piano then falling on its back, Tempo jumping off and landing in her owner's arms.

* * *

"Okay, now let's see...What do you think of this?" Roll asked, turning Sticks around to show her the full length mirror.

Sticks blinked twice. She was seeing herself, but in a slim, black, strapless dress with gold floral detailing, a slit in the side letting one of her legs be mostly exposed with black sandals on her feet. Her hair was still the same, but when Sticks closed and eye and then opened it while closing the other, she saw her eyelids were a soft shade of gold. It was rather form fitting, meant to both show of and hint at her maturing figure.

"...How are we looking into another universe? And why are they looking at us?" Sticks asked.

"Do you like what you see?" Roll asked.

"...Not really. It doesn't feel like...me," Sticks replied as the two moved away from the mirror.

"I know. I don't really like dresses either. But it's just for tonight," Roll promised, "And once it's done, you can take it off and not have to deal with any of it again unless something requires you to wear it. And also…" she whispered into her ear, causing Sticks to gasp.

"You did?" Sticks asked, a bright smile forming on her lips.

"I did," Roll nodded, earning a hug from her, her tail wagging.

Roll walked over to the dresser and pulled out a black and gold purse. She helped Sticks get it on her before sliding the badger's boomerang into it with a small wink. The two left the bedroom and began to walk down the stairs.

"Oh my goodness!" Amy gasped, wearing a purple dress with a slit on the side to let her leg be shown and long magna gloves.

"You look beautiful, kyu," Miyuki complemented, wearing an icy-blue dress without shoulders and a snowflake-shaped window to expose her cleavage, a blue collar on her neck keeping the top of her dress from falling down while her hair was pulled into a bun with a pair of blue chopsticks in it.

"Well, here's your escort," Sonic noted, motioning to Tail who was wearing a black tuxedo and trying to get the bow tied.

A white humanoid hedgehog with a red strand of quills on his lowest head quill, wearing blue shoes with a red line going down the middles and an orange jacket with extra long sleeves and a multitude of straps, walked up to Tails and tied the bow correctly. Tails smiled at the hedgehog, who nodded, before walking Tails over to Sticks.

"Oh, you look so kyute together!" Miyuki giggled, "White, I need a…" the hedgehog held up a camera, "Thankyu!"

"You sure you don't want to go instead of me?" Knuckles asked as Miyuki took photos of the Tails and Sticks.

"It'd be better for her to have more friends with her for support," White replied as he fixed Knuckles's bow tie, "Plus, I trust you in protecting my sister, wife, and brother-in-law if something goes wrong."

"Ahh...gotcha," Knuckles gave a thumbs up in response.

* * *

"Oh, so you're Amy's brother," Roll noted as Sonic moved his piece along the board.

"Yes," White nodded, "I apologize for her...excitable nature."

"It's fine," Roll nodded, "It's rather nice to know someone so upbeat most of the time."

"Aside from wishing on meteors falling on the village," Sonic noted.

"Yeah. She's quite a wish-maker," White shook his head, "I am surprised that you didn't go, Sonic."

"Well...It's because of the Bond Roll and I have. The place is too big for Roll to be close and she was specifically not allowed to come," Sonic explained.

"Bond? Oh, yes. Tails and Miyuki did say that if you two are too far apart, Roll's body starts attacking itself," White nodded, "Also, why isn't sh-?"

"The Mayor because she keeps asking about the re-election," Sonic replied.

"I will not give up," Roll huffed, giving a rather adorable pout as she rolled the dice.

"Ahh...I know how she feels," White nodded as he moved his chess piece, "I tried asking, and the mayor banned me from the village until I stopped asking about it."

"Really? Huh...That explains why the mayor's office kept getting flash frozen for those two weeks," Sonic noted as Roll moved her piece on the board.

"Possibly," White replied, "Do you mind if I ask why I saw you chasing after Sticks with Amy last week with a look of murder on your face?"

"Sakurai Family laws needed to be upheld," Roll replied, "That Cluster called Buster broke one of the biggest taboos in my family's laws; _never_ mess with our strawberries."

"Oooh…..noted," White cringed as he moved his piece, "I win."

* * *

"It is my pleasure to introduce…" Amy paused as she motioned to the stairs, "The Lady Sticks, and her escort; Sir Miles of Prower."

Tails held out his hand and Sticks took it before they walked down the stairs as smooth as they could.

"Go ahead. You can do it," Amy whispered to Sticks once the two reached down the stairs, "Start with a compliment."

Sticks nodded. She approached a gentleman ox. She was about to do a close sniff before recalling what she was told and managed to do a small sniff.

"You smell very nice," Sticks informed before looking over at Amy, who nodded with a smile.

"This is the first time I've been to one of these in the village," Miyuki noted as she and Knuckles looked over the food, "...Though to be honest, the choices of food are….subpar."

"The hoity-toity stiffs love these tiny nibbles," Knuckles snorted before they heard a scream, making them look over to see a dripping wet beaver, an apologetic Sticks, Amy pulling out a hand towel from her purse, and Tails going to the punch bowl to get Sticks another drink, "Guess she sneezed."

"Guess so, kyu," Miyuki figured as she walked over there, leaving Knuckles to the food table as he tried one of the items laid their, only to tense before spitting it out.

"Ugh. What was that?" Knuckles asked.

"Goat cheese with red radicchio spread," one of the older men there explained, another beside him.

"Ugh. More like goat cheese and a red _crud_ icchio spread," Knuckles frowned in disgust, earning a hearty laugh from the two gentlemen.

"My dear chap, what a marvelously comical witticism," the first chuckled, "Sir, you have the audacity to say what we're all thinking."

"You simply must join us," the second offered.

"Me? Okay! Red Crudicchio Spread!" Knuckles grinned as the three walked off, the beaver and rodent sharing another laugh.

"Now you seem prepared for winter," Sticks noted as she stood in front of Lady Walrus before patting her stomach, "That's one healthy layer of blubber!"

"Well, I never!" Lady Walrus huffed before walking off.

"Sticks," Tails sighed as he offered her a drink.

"What? I was being complementing," Sticks pouted, "She _is_ ready for winter. Unlike the Mayor with all the little foods here."

"Well..." Tails began.

"Ahem!" The Mayor spoke up, tapping a spoon against his glass, "Welcome to the Awardy Awards, where we award an Awardy Award for award-winning service! Tonight, one of you nominees will be awarded your very own Awardy Award!" everyone just stared at him, "...That's it, I'm firing my speech writer."

"That was a big mouthful," Sticks noted as Miyuki walked up to beside her, "Oh, hi, Miyuki." she said, "Your buns look awfully pretty."

"Umm…"

"Sticks, it's Miyuki."

"Oh, so I can talk normal?"

"Yes," Tails replied.

"Okay...Miyuki, can't you hide those melons more?" Sticks snapped, pointing at her chest.

"...Sticks…" Tails frowned.

* * *

"...I give it 5 minutes before she pulls out a boomerang…" Sonic sighed.

"I should've talked her into wearing the jacket that went with it," White sighed before moving his piece, "King me."

"I should've gone to that party…" Sonic groaned.

* * *

"If all girls are as crazy as Sticks, I am never dating." Tails sighed.

"I'm sure not everyone's as...excitable...as Sticks," Amy assured as the trio looked at Sticks, who was nervously looking at all the silverware before her.

"What's this one?" Sticks asked Miyuki, holding up a tiny fork.

"Um...I think it's the pre-salad, post-soup, mid-appetizer, post-post-cocktail tertiary thimble fork," Miyuki replied before the fifth seat at their table was pulled back and Eggman sat in it, "Oh, hello, kyu."

"Eggman? How'd you…" Tails began.

"Get nominated? Let's just say, I had a loyal base of... supporters," Eggman replied.

 **(earlier that day)**

"Finally, a use for my ballot stuffing robot!" Eggman beamed as he sat on top of a robot that was stuffing the ballot box for the Awardy Award with ballots.

 **(Present)**

"Oh, congrats, kyu," Miyuki smiled as Eggman looked at Sticks with a raised brow.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" Eggman asked.

"I told you nobody would recognize me. I don't even know who I am anymore! I am living a lie!"

"...Well, a pleasure to meet you, 'Liv Inga Lie,'" Eggman nodded.

* * *

"So how do I play this?" Roll asked, looking at the controller in her hands as she sat beside Sonic who sat beside White.

"We just try to survive and build stuff like pickaxes, suits of armor, potions. All to get to a fortress underground to fight a dragon," Sonic replied.

"Ah! Creeper!" White yelped before they heard an explosion.

"Oh no! It set off Plan G!" Sonic freaked as more explosions went off in the game.

"Why is everything blowing up?!" Roll yelped as she hid behind the couch.

"...At least we have a backup save for this," White noted.

* * *

"And now Sticks looks miserable," Miyuki noted under her breath as she saw Sticks poking at her soup with a spoon.

"Oh come now, Liv. Live a little," Eggman tried to cheer her up, "Tonight's a night for celebrations!"

"I guess…" Sticks replied before she picked up her bowl and slurped it...keeping a pinky extended.

"Now that's how a lady slurps soup from a bowl!" Eggman nodded before he picked up his bowl of soup and slurped it, his pinky extended.

 _'I still can't believe he doesn't see she's Sticks,'_ Tails sweatdropped.

"So tell me, where's your pal, Sonic? Too fancy for him?" Eggman asked.

"No. Roll's banned from coming here," Tails replied.

"Ah. Starting to get too 're-election happy' for him to handle, eh?" Eggman asked, looking over at the Mayor at another table before looking at Miyuki, "Didn't your husband get banned from the entire village for it once?"

"Which is why the only reason I'm here is to be supportive to my son's friend, kyu," Miyuki replied, motioning to Sticks.

"Ahh...I se-" Eggman began.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" the Mayor called out, getting their attention as he held an envelope, "We're ready announce this year's winner!"

"Oh, goody-goody, kyu," Miyuki beamed before her purse buzzed, "Oh. That's White-kyun. Be right back." she patted Sticks's shoulder as she passed and went outside, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Sticks whispered as the Mayor opened the envelope.

"And the award goes to…." the Mayor paused as he looked at the letter, everyone slightly leaning forward in anticipation, "...Leroy the Turtle!"

"What?!" Eggman exclaimed as a turtle cheered, "But...I was supposed to win! ...Something smells fishy here…"

"I have irritable bowl syndrome…" a fish in a bowl nearby frowned a bit.

"What? No. I mean, I smell a rat."

"Oh! Well I never," a female rat huffed as she smacked him.

"D'oh! No, no, no! Something's pulling wool over our eyes!"

"Well excuse you!" a sheep huffed.

"..." Eggman facepalmed before growling, "If you won't give me the award, I'll take it!" his Ballot stuffing robot then appeared as he jumped on it, "With my Ballot Stuffing Robot! Stuffer-bot, stuff their ballots!"

The machine clicked before its torso opened, sending ballots into the air. ...All it really did was just make a mess of papers with Eggman's name on them. Everyone just gave him raised brows.

"...Okay in hindsight, I should've seen this coming," Eggman deadpanned, "..Oh whatever. Buzzbombers, Motorbugs, Slicers, attack!"

"D'oh...not Slicers…" Tails groaned a bit as he prepared himself, only to blink when no robots came in...like at all, "..."

"...Ahem! Minions...attack!" Eggman called out, only to get no response, "...Where are my robotc minions?!"

* * *

"Whoo!" Sonic whooped as he smashed another mantis-themed robot.

"So we came with White to pick up Miyuki only to end up fighting robots once they were gone," Roll noted while punting a Motorbug into a Buzzbomber, "At least it's not that game with all the explosions."

"Eh, you get used to it," Sonic shrugged as he punted a Slicer over a set of trees, "GOAL!"

* * *

"...Okay you know what? Screw this," Eggman frowned as he aimed his wrist device at Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, firing a beam that trapped them in a bubble.

Sticks watched it all before remembering what Miyuki told her.

 _"Sticks, we don't fight anyone at a fancy event such as this unless something happens, kyu."_

"All right, that's it!" Sticks growled, " I'm sick of being proper!" she grabbed her dress before throwing it off her, revealing her normal clothes beneath, while she whipped her boomerang from her purse, "Time to get _primal_!"

"Now I remember," Eggman groaned before yelping as he barely ducked under the thrown boomerang, "Hey watch it! Y-" he heard his wrist device go off before the bubble disappeared, freeing Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, "...Oh crud...Wait. I still have this!" he then pressed a button on Stuffer-bot, causing three laser blasters to appear from some slots on it, "Eat hot laser!"

"Uh oh," Knuckles gulped a bit before he was suddenly pushed out of the way, causing one of the lasers to miss.

"Heh heh... Give us a pound, dear chap," the rodent gentlemen he'd been hanging out with chuckled, holding his fist out, Knuckles returning the fist bump.

Sticks's frenzied warcry made Eggman look up just in time to be clonked on the nose by her boomerang held by her like a club. She jumped back and picked up a trash can.

"Eat garbage!" Sticks shouted as she threw it, whacking the robot's head, before Amy pulled her hammer out of her purse and whacked the robot as well, causing it to start malfunctioning until its lasers blew up.

"...I'll be back, and next time I'll bring more ballots! _More ballots_!" Eggman swore as he ran out of there, "And find the person who rigged this award ceremony!"

"See ya later, Eggface!" Sonic waved as Eggman flew off on his summoned ride.

"...Did he say the award ceremony was rigged?" Roll asked.

"Mostly likely it's just him still being upset for not winning," Sonic guessed.

"Leroy, even though I didn't win the award, I think we can agree that today, _I_ was the real hero," Sticks told the turtle.

"Yes...but," Leroy began as he held up the trophy, "I still have the trophy."

"It is true," The Mayor nodded, "He won fair and square. Right, old friend?"

"Oh yes," Leroy nodded.

"...Re-election," Sticks stated.

"..."

The next thing Leroy knew, the trophy was missing from his hands and Sticks was walking out, whistling happily while hugging her shiny. He also noticed the Mayor was MIA, having gone to hide under his bed.

"Stay cool, and keep rocking those bow ties," Knuckles smirked, giving his two fancy friends fist bumps before leaving with Amy and Tails after Sticks.

"Thanks for saving us again, Sticks," Amy smiled as she walked next to the badger, "I guess it's not always proper to be proper."

"Eh, just followin' the ol' instincts," Sticks shrugged.

"Oh! You won!" Roll cheered as she hugged Sticks, "Oh, I am so happy for you!"

"Guess you all had a good night," Sonic noted, "We spent it beating up robots and playing board games with White."

"Oh, that's cool," Tails nodded before he noticed someone missing. Or rather...two someones, "...Uh….where are Sticks and Amy? Th-"

"Waah!" Amy screamed as Sticks dragged her head first into a dumpster.

"Sticks is teaching her to be a jungle girl, it seems," Sonic replied.

"...I'll go call the doctor and tell him he'll have two for a Tetanus shot," Tails sighed.

"Good idea…"

* * *

 **Read and review please!**


	6. In which Knuckles and Sticks study

**This was a difficult one to write. So many ideas, but not sure where to go.**

* * *

Roll stared at the ceiling as she laid in her hammock by Sonic's. It had been over a month and a half now since she started living with him due the the Bond and it had been...quite an eye-opening experience. While some of the people here were friendly, some were not so with villainy actually being a career path. But she wasn't thinking of all that…

"Roll…" Sonic yawned, "Wh...What's up?"

Roll looked over at Sonic, "Well...You remember when Sticks got her letter for the Awardy Award, right?"

"Y...yeah," Sonic nodded as he yawned a bit, "What about it?"

"Knuckles said he couldn't read," Roll replied, "Does he know how to count?"

"He can count to two."

"...Did he EVER go to school?"

"Yeah, but he was more the jock/school bully really."

"..." Roll resumed looking at the ceiling while Sonic went back to sleep, a concerned look on her face.

* * *

While Sonic was getting a chili-dog, Roll hummed as she looked at her shopping list. It had become almost every other days she had to restock for breakfast since the others would come to eat. She was grateful Amy would help her with making everything. As she walked down an isle, she stopped when she saw Knuckles looking at a can, frowning.

"What's in this?" Knuckles pondered as he looked around the can for a picture before one of the clerks walked over, "Hey, what happened to the pictures?"

"The Mayor passed a law that all products are not allowed pictures of the final product," the clerk explained, "Said that his macaroni and cheese was crunchy and not cheesy at all."

"And the numbers?" Knuckles asked.

"Law was made after the Mayor passed out from a misnumber on a can of pickles," the clerk replied, "Now all prices are written in words so no mistakes are made."

"What? Aw come on…" Knuckles sighed, "How am I supposed to buy stuff if I can't tell how much it is, or what it looks like?" he looked at the can, "Okay. I'll just take this."

"It's three fifty," the clerk replied once they were at checkout.

Knuckles put down a pile of change.

"...Sir, you're five cents short."

Knuckles dug into his pocket and pulled out four pennies.

"...You're still short, sir."

"Uh…" Knuckles began before Roll placed her groceries on the counter.

"I'll pay for his can of baked beans," Roll informed as the Clerk added her groceries to the total.

"That will be a hundred and twenty dollars and thirty-three cents."

"Thank you," Roll nodded as she paid and gave Knuckles his can.

"Heh...thanks, Roll," Knuckles chuckled a bit before she gave him a stern look, "...What? What did I do?"

"It's not what you did, but what you _didn't_ do," Roll replied as she walked out, Knuckles following her, "I'm really worried for you, Knuckles, especially with this ridiculous law that mouse passed. Oh, hold on, Knuckles. We need to stop."

"What? Why?" Knuckles asked.

"The sign says 'Stop,'" Roll replied, using her tail to point at the stop sign ahead of them.

"Oh...didn't know that."

"See? Knuckles, if you want, I want to help you learn to read and count," Roll offered.

"Why? Never bothered learning the stuff in school," Knuckles waved it off, "Too hurting on the brain. Plus you really don't learn much from school aside from physical fitness."

"...Tell me what this says," Roll informed, holding up Knuckles's can of baked beans.

"Meat?" Roll shook her head at his response, "...Smoothie? Peppers? Oh! Pepper smoothie made with muscle milk!"

Roll shook her head, "It's baked beans, Knuckles. The can you bought requires you to baked them just right or they'll taste beyond horrible, even."

"Oh….I knew that."

"...Okay, that's it," Roll frowned, "Until you learn how to read and count, I will be your personal tutor."

"But...aren't you Sonic's girl?"

"...Knuckles, a tutor is someone who teaches others outside of classrooms," Roll explained, "I am still Bonded to Sonic, so he'll be assisting me."

"Wait, what?" Sonic asked, having come up at the last sentence.

"We're going to help Knuckles learn to read and count," Roll replied.

"...Oh I get it now…" Knuckles smirked, "You wanna take me up on being my side kicks, don't you?"

"Oh not again…" Sonic facepalmed.

"Fine then. Come Rat Boy, Yellow Vixen! You shall teach me the art of reading and counting!" Knuckles declared, "Oh, and don't forget to swoon over me, Yellow Vixen."

"...Knuckles, do I have to trick myself into thinking you were the one who ruined my strawberries and not Buster the Cluster?" Roll smiled sweetly...while her eyes were glinting dangerously.

"Um...N-no?" Knuckles sweated.

"Then don't order me to swoon or call me anything but my name or 'Ma'am.'"

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"You're really doing this?" Amy asked as Tails helped Roll put up a projector.

"Of course. With those new laws passed, Knuckles needs to learn this," Roll replied.

"This isn't going to end well," Amy noted.

"I still want to try," Roll argued, "If I don't at least try, then it will be like I'm just ignoring something that shouldn't be ignored."

"...Roll, if you're really set on this…" Amy paused as she put her hand on her shoulder, "Then I'll help you out. After all, we're friends right?"

"Of course!" Roll beamed.

"Okay, I have everything set up," Tails informed, "You're good to go."

A knock came at the door and Roll answered it.

"Delivery for a Ms. Sakurai," Leroy informed, holding up a package.

"Thank you," Roll nodded, quickly signing for the package and gave him a tip before closing the door.

"What is that?"

"My father taught me to read and write in English, so I looked online and ordered what he used to help me learn," Roll explained, "They're animated music videos that help you learn the subjects."

"Ooh! Good idea, Roll," Amy nodded.

"I also bought some beginning to read books for him to use for practice," Roll added.

"You sure books are a good idea?" Tails asked, "I tried to get Knuckles to read one once, he got bored real quick because there were no pictures in it."

"They're beginner's books," Roll replied as she pulled one out, "See?" she opened it, "There's a picture and just one sentence on each page."

"Oh. ...Do you think that's still a bit hard for Knuckles?" Tails asked.

"Which is why I also got a book on the alphabet, where it's just a word, a picture that goes with the word, and the letter," Roll replied, "My father always says 'See a need; Fill a need.' For me, the need is to make sure Knuckles and read and count. I am filling that need with all sorts of plans and backup plans."

"And you've been thinking about this since you saw Knuckles in the store after the new laws yesterday?" Tails blinked twice.

"Yes….yes I have…" Roll nodded, "Also, I've been thinking of running against that incompetent mayor since he keeps making these asinine laws."

"Good luck with getting the election date," Sonic noted before the door was knocked on and he answered, "Hey, Knux."

"Hey," Knuckles greeted as he walked in, "Are we having a movie night? Oh, wait...the sun's rising. So we're having a movie day?"

"No," Roll shook her head, "This is gonna be part of your lesson on reading and counting."

"Aw man...you even made movies boring now?" Knuckles groaned.

"Knuckles…"

"Sitting down," Knuckles meeped as he sat down.

"Now don't worry, Knuckles," Roll assured, "While you are going to learn something, it will be done in a fun way. After all, what better way to learn something than to get it stuck in your head through a catchy tune?"

"Punching robots?"

"Well, Knuckles, think of it this way; if you learn how to count, you can challenge everyone to who crushes the most robots when Eggman does his attacks," Amy offered.

"...When do we start?" Knuckles asked, now a bit more eager to learn.

"We start with this," Roll replied as she put the Alphabet book before him, "Learning the alphabet."

* * *

"You did a good job today, Knuckles," Roll smiled, "Now for the most important thing."

"What?"

"Homework."

"Aw…" Knuckles pouted.

"No, no, no. It's a good thing," Roll assured, "I want you to 'read' the alphabet book at home and bring it back tomorrow where we'll see how much you remember from today's lesson. I'll even give you a free answer." she opened the book and showed the first page, showing an apple, "A is for 'Apple.' I'll also have a surprise for you if you manage to get at least half of them right tomorrow."

"It's not another book is it?" Knuckles asked.

"No, no, no. It will be a surprise," Roll replied, "But I promise you that it will not be another book. Not until you can remember everything in this first book."

"Okay…" Knuckles slowly nodded.

"Now remember; try to memorize the letters and pictures and don't forget to bring the book," Roll waved as Knuckles left.

"That went better than I thought it'd go," Amy admitted before Sticks crashed from the ceiling, "How long were you up there?"

"I was worried when I didn't smell the normal morning smells and I got stuck up there," Sticks explained, "What was that all about? Now I've got this song stuck in my head about a deer called Elementary!"

"We're teaching Knuckles to read and count because of the Mayor's new laws," Tails explained.

"Oh…." Sticks blinked, "Can I get in on that? That guy made a new law that I need to write down what I catch!"

"You did say 're-election' right to his face," Tails noted.

"Because he rigged the awards so he could give it to Leroy!" Sticks argued, "It's not fair I have to write down what I catch AND eat now!"

"Well, I don't mind at all," Roll smiled.

"Thanks!"

"Just show up like you normally do every morning for breakfast and we can get started," Roll replied, _'Now I'm really glad I ordered two of each book.'_

* * *

"Good morning!" Roll greeted as Knuckles and Sticks came in.

"Morning," Knuckles waved before looking at Sticks, "Hey, Sticks."

"Are you both ready to learn today?" Amy asked.

"Wait. Sticks is going to school too?" Knuckles asked.

"I need to learn to write so the mayor will let me to catch and eat what I want again," Sticks explained.

"Not cool," Knuckles frowned.

"Okay, Knuckles. Before we start today's lesson for you both, we need to do your homework check," Roll informed, "May I have the book please?"

"Got it right here," Knuckles smiled as he handed the book to her.

"Okay," Roll nodded as she opened to a random page and covered the letter by the picture before showing the picture to Knuckles, "What is this and what letter does this start with?"

"Uh...a ball, and it starts with…" Knuckles paused as he pondered for a moment, "...B?"

"That's right!" Roll smiled before changing to another page, "And this one?"

"Um...Oh-oh! This is the apple! And it starts with...um...uh...oh! A!"

"Correct!" Roll beamed as she changed the page, "And this one?"

"Uh… Hm?! Robot!"

"...Um, that's wrong, Kn-"

"No! Robot!"

"What?" Roll blinked as she looked over her shoulder, seeing Burnbot standing outside the window, "..." _'One day! Just one freaking day!'_ "...Huh. He added flamethrowers?" Burnbot nodded before Roll sighed, "He's gonna say 'attack,' isn't he?" Burnbot nodded once more, "...Three….Two….One…."

"Burnbot, attack!" Eggman ordered from outside.

With that, Burnbot shot his claws out at the group, causing them to dodge as it crashed into the table.

"Aw, man! My homework!" Knuckles exclaimed, "I just finished that last night too!"

"Don't worry. I still have the book," Roll assured, putting it away.

"Oh thank lord…" Knuckles sighed in relief.

"You're gonna need more than lord when Burnbot is through with you!" Eggman shouted as Burnbot retracted its claw, "Burnbot, burn them to ashes! L-"

"Clean that up."

"Hmm?" Eggman raised a brow as he looked over his shoulder, seeing Miyuki stand behind him, "I beg your pardon?"

"I said clean that up, kyu."

"...Do you have any idea who you're speaking to?"

"I do, but please. Do go on," Miyuki said, that smile still on her face.

"I am Doctor Eggman, the greatest scientific genius in the world! I am here to destroy these pesky rodents-apologies, by the way, Roll, but it's my job-so I can destroy that village, and build Eggmanland!" Eggman declared, "Once I do, I-wait what's going on? It's not even winter. Why's it so c-c-c-c-cold?!"

"You are interrupting class time," Miyuki informed.

"...So?" Eggman asked, unaware that Tails was quickly pushing away his friends.

"There are three things I won't tolerate. One; seeing my little brother harmed and/or upset. Two; people who abuse their position of power to do what they want. And three;..." Miyuki paused as she held her hand out before, in an instant, was turned into a large claw of ice, "I detest people who interrupt important things, such as lessons and weddings."

"..." if they could, Eggman's eyes would've shrunk down to dots as he grew pale white, shivering further as snow began to fall around the area.

"And _this_ is why I pay rent," Sonic mumbled.

"Now….as I said before...Eggman-hakase…" Miyuki began as she leaned forward a bit, a glint in her eyes as she held that very...very….VERY unnerving smile, "Clean. That. Up."

"...I...Burnbot, clean that up!" Eggman ordered.

Burnbot quickly nodded before it began to clean up the mess it made.

"Thankyu, and I'm sure nothing like this won't happen again...Right?" Miyuki asked, that smile still on her face as she aimed all nine of her tails at Eggman, the tips covered in very sharp ice.

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Eggman gulped, "My apologies for interrupting class time. Burnbot, let's go!"

"Thank you, Miyuki," Roll thanked as Eggman and Burnbot fled.

"My pleasure, kyu," Miyuki nodded as the snow stopped, her ice weapons disappearing as she tossed Roll a rose pink cellphone, "Here. A little gift for being such a good tenant and friend, kyu."

"Oh! Thank you!" Roll beamed.

"No problem. Be sure to call me whenever you need anything, kyu," Miyuki nodded as she began to walk off.

"I'll be sure to do so!" Roll agreed before she turned back to Sticks and Knuckles, "Well, considering this interruption, let's just do two more pictures."

"Yes, ma'am," Knuckles and Sticks quickly nodded, still a bit unnerved from what happened a few minutes ago.

* * *

"Good job! You got fourteen right!" Roll beamed, "You know what that means!"

"Ooh! The special surprise?" Knucles asked.

"Yep!" Roll replied as Amy pulled out a pair of charts, the tops shaped like Knuckles and Stick's head, "You get a Gold Star on your Achievement Chart!"

"Oh~! Shiny~" Sticks awed as Amy hung the two charts up and put a gold star-shaped sticker under Knuckles's chart.

"Yup. For every certain set of right answers you give, you get a gold star," Roll nodded, "And you get a shiny rainbow star if you get a perfect score." she held up a sheet of rainbow colored, glittery stars, "See?"

"...Shiny~" Sticks drooled, her eyes replaced with stars as she stared at it, "Must….have…."

"Ah-ah-ah," Roll put them away, "You have to get at least half the answers on your assignments right to get a gold star and all of them right to get a rainbow star. Now are you both ready to learn?"

"Yes ma'am/I WANT THAT SHINY!" Knuckles nodded while Sticks exclaimed.

"Good. Amy, please bring the lined paper please. We're going to learn to write some of the alphabet today."

* * *

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Roll squealed in delight as she seemed to bounce around her and Sonic's bedroom, "Sonic, you have the best land lady ever!"

"As long as you don't anger her, yeah," Sonic nodded, "Seriously, last time she got angry, we got another month of winter and everything."

"Right. Still...I'm so glad! I got to call mother and father and tell them how great Sticks and Knuckles are doing in their tutoring!" Roll cheered, "I knew positive motivation would do wonders!" she ran downstairs and back upstairs, carrying both charts, "Look! They've been doing so good this last week!"

"Yeah...honestly, kinda surprised. This is the longest Knuckles has gotten in trying to learn something," Sonic admitted, "Amy tried once, and Knuckles just brushed her off for something called 'Arm Day'."

"Arm Day?"

"Yeah. I mean, there's only Leg Day here," Sonic shrugged before ducking under a thrown coconut, "...Oh yeah. Mentioning that day is a big taboo around Knux."

"I'll be sure to take that into account," Roll nodded.

"Yeah…" Sonic nodded, "...So what're ya gonna do now?"

"Well, tomorrow's the big day! Their final exam!" Roll beamed, her tail wagging, "A practical final exam at that."

"Well, good luck with that," Sonic noted.

"Of course!" Roll beamed, giving Sonic a few pecks on his face before going downstairs to put the charts back up and back upstairs into the shower.

"..." Sonic blinked twice, "Wow. She must be really happy."

* * *

"Um...Why are we out in the village?" Knuckles asked as the group were walking through the unnamed village.

"Well, it's your Final Exam!" Roll beamed before pulling both charts out, "And if both of you do good on this, I am going to give you both three, great big emerald stars...that _glow in the dark_!"

"IN THE DARK!?" Sticks screamed in excitement before Knuckles held her back, "GIMMIE! GIMMIE! GIMMIE!"

"Easy now," Roll advised before handing Sticks and Knuckles clipboards with a pencil tied to them on strings, "You'll get all three when you both pass your Final Exam. Now Sticks, Tails will go with you while you're out hunting. Your job will be to write down everything that he sees you eat when he calls them out. Knuckles, you'll be with Amy and getting everything on this list." she handed Knuckles a list, "Amy cannot help you at all in this task and is there to be your examiner. Once you get them all, you will need to pay the exact amount or rounded to the nearest next dollar amount."

"Okay," both agreed.

"Now remember; you _both_ have to pass in order to get these stickers," Roll reminded, "And...go!"

"Gotcha/I WANT THAT SHINY!" the two declared as they ran off.

"Other ways, you two!" Amy called before Sticks ran out of the store and Knuckles ran out of the path to the jungle and past each other.

"You'll make sure they do their work, yes?" Roll asked the two.

"Of course," Amy assured.

"You can count on me," Tails nodded.

"Thanks," Roll nodded, giving them both a hug before they went off to their respective tester. "...I really am proud of them."

"Hmm?" Sonic blinked as he looked t her.

"They've made so much progress these past few days," Roll smiled, "...Eggman's most likely going to interrupt their final test, isn't he?"

"Probably," Sonic shrugged.

* * *

"Okay, Knuckles. This is your final exam," Amy reminded, "All or nothing. Now what is the first thing on your list?"

"Oh! Um…" Knuckles pulled out the list, "B...Buh...Buh-ay-ch...Ba-ach...Oh, Bacon and Beans."

"Great. Now let's...Why are there pictures back on the cans and boxes?" Amy asked.

"Mayor had to repeal the new law," the cashier explained, "People were complaining about it and someone must have said 're-election.'"

"Wait. So I learned how to read and count for nothing?!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Oh come on…" Amy muttered, "You mean Roll worked so hard on helping Sticks and Knuckles for nothing?!"

"..." Knuckles looked at the shopping list and then at the labels before doing it a few more times, "...Amy, you got colored pens or pencils?"

"I always keep a few just in case of a color emergency," Amy replied, "Why?"

* * *

"YAH!" Sticks roared as she pounced.

 ***crackle***

"Got another one!" Sticks beamed as she walked over to a sack and put the rabbit in it, its head bent backwards.

"Write it down, Sticks," Tails offered her the paper and pencil.

"Right, right, right," Sticks nodded, sticking her tongue out as she began to write, "Rabbit. 'R-a-b-b-i-t.'"

"Right," Tails confirmed.

"Yes! One step closer to getting that shiny!" Sticks beamed, "Oh! Shiny! S-h-i-n-y. Shiny!"

 _'And one step closer to a full sack…'_ Tails thought in disgust, _'We really need a re-election.'_

* * *

=Rosy Rascal to Foxy Blonde. Big Red is doing great so far in his test. over= Amy said over a radio.

"Thank you, Rosy Rascal," Roll nodded as she ducked a Buzzbomber before punting a Motobug into a Slicer, "Twin Genius, how is Our Fair Sticksy doing, over?"

=She's doing good. She's spelling and counting all her catches, over= Tails responded.

"Glad to hear," Sonic replied before performing a few Homing Attacks on some Buzzbombers.

=...Is everything okay over there?=

"Eh. No more than usual," Sonic shrugged before a few crab themed robots came in, "Huh...Eggman brought back the Crabmeats a-" he paused when he saw a few larger ones, one of their claws spiked and larger than their bodies, "...Shellcrackers...crud."

"We can handle it. Just, please, hurry the tests, please?" Roll asked.

=Will do, Foxy Blonde. Over and out=

* * *

"Got the last thing!" Knuckles beamed as he walked over to Amy.

"You sure?" Amy asked.

"Yep," Knuckles nodded as he held up a gallon of chocolate milk, "Chocolate Milk made with Whole Milk."

Amy looked at the cover and nodded, "That's chocolate milk made with whole milk, alright." Knuckles put it into the cart, "Okay. Now all that's left is to…" she turned to see the long line to the only register, "...get...in...line…"

"...Huh. Wonder why it's so long?" Knuckles pondered.

"Next person in line…" a rather bored voice spoke from the register.

"...Dave," Amy narrowed her eyes.

* * *

"Okay. I've got almost all my meats," Sticks informed, "All that's left is one grey rabbit."

"A grey rabbit?"

"Yep. Meat's much more tender than the rest," Sticks replied.

"Well...How hard could that be?" Tails pondered.

"There's the rabbit!" Sticks shouted before pouncing, "GIVE ME THE SHINY!"

The rabbit's ears stuck up before it bounced off, causing Sticks to miss as she crashed into a rock face first. She growled as she got up and began to chase it, screaming angrish.

"...Why do I feel this is gonna be a very long chase?" Tails sighed as he chased after them.

* * *

"….Mou...what's taking them so long?" Roll pondered before pulling out her radio, "This is Foxy Blonde to Rosy Rascal and Twin Genius. What's your status. Over."

=Sticks is chasing after a grey rabbit that keeps tricking her into crashing into stuff= Tails replied

=And there's a long line at the grocery store=

"Eh? Why is…"

=Dave is why=

"...I thought he worked at Meh Burger."

=When he's bored, he tends to take side jobs to make extra money=

"...The mayor authorizes people to have multiple jobs even if they're the only worker at one place and also the manager of said place?"

=Yep=

"..." Roll took a very deep breath as she tried to calm herself, "...Sonic."

"Yeah, Roll?"

"I think we need to go shopping real quick."

"What? Seriously?" Sonic asked as he punted a motobug at one of the crab robots.

"Yes. Let's just say I...forgot to pick something up for dinner tonight."

"But...didn't you…?"

"I said…" Roll paused as she looked at him, the unnerving smile on her face and dangerous glint in her eyes fully visible, "'I forgot...to pick something up….for dinner.'"

"Yes, ma'am," Sonic gulped before the two ran off.

"Hey! What are…?! You can't just…! Gah! Oh, that is so rude! Here I am trying to destroy you and you just run off!" Eggman complained, "Robots, after them! I mean honestly, what's more important than our daily b-?" a paper crane landed in front of him before it unfolded, the words 'Dave' written inside, "...Fair enough."

* * *

"...Price check on aisle three…" Dave called over the intercom, having scanned a can of corn for the tenth, maybe twelfth, time as the line was still long, "Repeat; price check on aisle three for a can of corn."

"Calm blue oceans, Amy...calm...deep….blue oceans…" Amy whispered to herself as she tried to stay calm, the pink hedgehog on the verge of bringing out her hammer.

"It's two-fifty!" Knuckles called from Aisle Three, "It's Granny Smith's Corned Can, right? Because that's what it costs! If it's the store brand, then it's one-twenty! So which is it?! Name brand or Store Brand?!"

"...Yes," Dave replied, causing Amy's eye to twitch violently as she whipped out her hammer.

"That's…" Amy began before she spotted Roll walk into the store, "..." she put her hammer away, "...me really wanting to have a bucket of popcorn right now."

"Hello. Welcome t-" Dave began before he spotted Roll, "?!"

"Hello, David," Roll greeted calmly, "Mind if I ask why you're here and not taking care of your business?"

"...Uh…."

"And what's this? This line is pretty long...you weren't delaying these people on purpose...were you, David?"

"...Uh…." Dave whimpered, his voice sounding a bit squeaky right now.

"And, dear me, I do think some customers have some frozen goods," Roll went on, "I do hope you're not delaying them just so you can witness their frozen goods thaw out, spoiling the meals they had planned."

"..."

"Well…" Roll paused as she leaned in close to him, "Are you….David?"

"..." Dave quickly began to scan everything for the customer and put them into plastic bags, "That'll be fifty-seven dollars and ten cents. Next!"

"Good boy," Roll smiled as she walked away, "Just remember what'll happen if I see you slacking on the job, or purposely giving people a hard time... _David_."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Dave squeaked out, scanning more groceries.

 _'...Sonic wasn't kidding when he said Roll terrifies him,'_ Amy thought in awe.

Roll hummed as she walked back outside and over to where Sonic was sitting on a bench near Eggman's hovercraft, the scientist reading a newspaper while his robots were just lying about, "Ahem."

"We're good now?" Eggman asked.

"Indeed," Roll nodded.

"Finally," Eggman put his paper away before looking at his robots, "Either some robots beats up somebody or some robots are going to be scrapped!" the robots got up and charged at Sonic and Roll.

"...Mou. Just another day then, I guess," Roll sighed before grabbing the claw of a Shellcracker, just at it fired said claw at her.

The Shellcracker let out an gurgling 'uh oh' before Roll began to spun it around by its claw, knocking over any nearby robots. She let it go, letting it slam against a tree and shatter. She gave a nod before jumping over a Buzzbomber's sweep attack at her.

* * *

"Sticks, do you ever catch the grey rabbit?" Tails asked.

"Sure I do! They're just really crafty," Sticks replied, "There it is!"

The rabbit ran into a hole in a tree and Sticks shoved her arm into it to grab the rabbit. At the very top of the tree, the rabbit ran out with Stick's arm chasing it. The rabbit hid in a nest and Sticks's arm reaching into it.

"EEYOW!" Sticks screamed as she pulled her arm out...revealing the eagle digging its talons into it.

 ***SQUAWK!***

"E-a-g-l-e. Eagle," Sticks wrote down before shoving the dead eagle into the sack, "Okay, bag's full."

"Huh?! Wh...ho...how's that even possible?!" Tails exclaimed.

"...Mmm," Sticks shrugged as she walked over, the sack over her shoulder.

"...Le...Let's just go turn the paper into the mayor…" Tails sighed.

* * *

"And done," Knuckles grinned a bit as he and Amy walked out of the store, the echidna carrying multiple bags in his arms, "Who knew shopping would be so much easier when you know how to read and count?"

"True," Amy giggled before seeing a grinning Sticks and a grumbling Tails come up, "Everything okay?"

"Yes and no. Yes in that Sticks passed," Tails replied, "But 'no,' because the Mayor repealed his Hunting List Law because of the local hunting troop filing complaints and threats of demanding a re-election."

"...Really?"

"He did the same thing at the store," Knuckles added, "People were complaining about the pictures being replaced and stuff."

"This happens a lot," Amy facepalmed.

"...And no one bothers to tell the Mayor about this?"

"Nope. He locks himself in his office until he begs them to stop."

"..."

"...Roll?"

Roll inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, "If someone does not run for Mayor when someone manages to get that election date, I will."

"So Eggman attacked during our finals?" Sticks asked, seeing the broken piles of robots around.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded, "So how'd they do, guys?"

"Here's Sticks's paper," Tails handed over a sheet to Roll.

"Hmm…" Roll looked it over, "Aside from misspelling 'chinchilla,' everything else is good." she pulled out a red pen and wrote on the paper, "95 percent. Congratulations, you passed!"

"Yes!" Sticks cheered, "Shiny stars?"

"Not just yet," Roll replied as she turned to Amy and Knuckles, "Amy? Knuckles?"

"Well, we had a small set back at the start, but Knuckles actually thought of a good idea," Amy replied as she handed Roll the shopping list.

"There's a red check by each item," Roll noted.

"Yeah. I had Amy check them off each time I read the stuff right," Knuckles explained.

"I even had him read the first ingredient on them just to make sure," Amy added.

"Ah….good idea," Roll nodded, "Extra credit for you, Knuckles, for making the final exam harder due to issues with the original test." she pulled out her pen again and looked over it and at the grocery bags, "Mm-hm. 101 percent." she wrote it down, "You both passed! Congratulations!"

"We did? Does this mean…?" Sticks asked with wide, excited eyes.

"Of course," Roll replied as she pulled out their charts and put the three, big, glow-in-the-dark stars for each on them.

Sticks screamed in glee as she swiped her chart and hugged it, "Shiny even in the dark…This is sure to keep away any shadow monsters that try to eat me at night!"

"I'm glad you like it," Roll smiled, "And I am happy to say you're finally done with your lessons."

"Alright!" Knuckles cheered, "Oh, what did you need with all these groceries, Roll?"

"Miyuki, Amy, and I are going to be making a big feast because of you two passing," Roll explained.

"SWEET!" Sticks beamed at that, "Can this day get any better?!"

"Maybe. It's not like it's gonna rain chili dogs from the sky," Sonic shrugged before said food landed in his opened hand, "..."

"...It's not like it's gonna rain adorable plushies from the sky," Amy tried to invoke, "..." when nothing happened, she pouted, "How come you get all the luck?"

"Mmm-mm-mmmm," Sonic shrugged as he ate the chili-dog in one bite.

* * *

 **Read and Review! Hope everyone has a great day!**


	7. In which a lair is remodeled for a cover

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Junk…" Eggman muttered as he fed Cubot his mail, "Junk...junk...ooh! I might've won 10,000 dollars! ...Junk…junk...evil tool warehouse..."

"Ack...ack…" Cubot coughed as he choked on a pamphlet until Orbot gave him a strong slap to the back, making him cough it up.

"Paperjam," Orbot noted.

"...J-" Eggman before his eyes widened a bit behind his glasses, "Orbot!" Orbot opened up his mouth, "No, you imbecile. I don't want you to shred _this_! This is the key to our future! Do you know what this is?"

"An audit?" Orbot guessed.

"No. And we are going to talk later about _why_ audits are _never_ a key to the future unless you use them on others," Eggman scolded.

"Robotic women who love us for our minds and not into looks or money?!" Cubot gasped.

"No! Our home, and by which I mean _my_ home, is gonna be featured in Modern Lair Magazine!" Eggman declared before he handed Orbot the paper, "Here. Read the expedition."

"'A photographer's assistant will do an on site inspection tomorrow to consider you for our Island Fortress issue,'" Orbot read.

"Let's give this lair some flair!" Eggman declared as he got up off the couch.

With that, the three….well, mainly Orbot and Cubot, began to clean up the place. The two bots proceeded with vacuuming the floor, sweeping up any leftover parts, and shining Eggman's boots.

"Oh. When you two are finished polishing my boots, make sure my rollercoaster is in tip-top shape," Eggman ordered.

The two looked at one another before nodding towards Eggman. Orbot grabbed a tool box as they went off into another room. Eggman hummed as he walked over to a bunsen burner. Just as he was about to reach out to it, a loud series of crashes mixed with a cat yowling made him look at where Orbot and Cubot went. The two stumbled into the room, dismantled, while Tempo ran past them.

"I knew I should've put a tracking device on you," Eggman frowned at the cat, "Why did I agree to pet sit for her while she's got a fever again?"

"Because you love…" Orbot began before coughing up some smoke, "Cats…?"

"...eh. Fair enough," Eggman shrugged as Tempo purred from being scratched on the back by Eggman, "But it's all coming together! When the Photographer's assistant arrives, he'll take one look at my lair and exclaim…!"

* * *

"You call zis a lair?"

"How dare you?!" Eggman snapped as Tempo hissed, "Listen, pompous little pipsqueak, I'll crush you like a bug!"

"Not if you vant your lair in our magazine," the mongoose countered.

"B...but...You can't do this to me!"

"Modern Lair brings our readers a contemporary take on Evil," The mongoose stated,"Your idea of evil is totally retro, und zat's without ze irony. Your lazers are a ridiculous shade of blue…" his eyes narrowed a bit, "Und would you please rotate that Bunsen burner by about 90 degrees before I get sick?" he looked at Tempo, "But ze cat is a nice touch."

"Pet sitting."

"Und just like zat, you're on ze verge of being banned,"

"No, no! Wait! Just give me another chance! I'll spruce up the place!"

"...I'll give you a veek," the mongoose stated as he walked off.

"I'm gonna need help, from someone with a real feel for color... and shape," Eggman noted before seeing Cubot trying and failing to put a toy, black square into an 'X'-shaped slot on a white cube with orange detailing, "...Definitely gonna have to outsource this one…" he looked at Tempo, who was curled up on the couch, "...Nah. She's sick at the moment." he tapped his chin in thought, "Ah! I know!"

* * *

"Okay. I have the list," White informed as everyone but Roll were outside Sonic and Roll's hut, the hedgefox on the second floor in her hammock with an apparatus keeping a bag of ice on her head.

"Thank you, White," Amy nodded to her older brother, "Now let's see...My summer-themed seat cushions with floral upholstery that complements each guests' natural coloring are ready."

"Check," White checked it off.

"Miyuki, has the ice sculpture melted just enough to hide the few carving marks you needed to do?" Amy asked.

"Already finished, kyu," Miyuki nodded as she placed said object on the table, shaped like a swan, "I did take ice sculpting back in high school after all, kyu."

"And it shows," Amy smiled.

"I dug a trench around the picnic table and filled it with broken glass," Sticks smiled, motioning to her work.

"...I might've used rose petals, but we'll go with it for now," Amy nodded as White walked off to get some rose petals, "Sonic, how are you doing on those fruit drinks?"

"Hold on, Ames. Bringing soup up to Roll," Sonic replied from inside before they heard a splash and him crying out, "Gah! Hot soup on the legs! Hot soup on the legs!"

"...Tails, where's the soothing music?" Amy asked.

"Right here," Tails replied as he was hooking up a device to the speakers that had been set up, "And this booster I put on the speakers should make it a bit louder for people to hear better."

"...Tails, please unplug those speakers, kyu."

"Aw… But, why? I…" Tails began before one of Miyuki's tails pointed to the upper part of Sonic and Roll's house, "...oh...right."

"...Knuckles, are the grilled pheasants ready?" Amy asked, a small twitch in her eye.

"Not now, Amy. I'm busy," Knuckles waved her off as he...used the pheasants as hand puppets, "Oh, please don't cook me, Knuckles." he spoke in a high-pitch voice before changing to a low pitch one, "Today turned out a lot different than I expected."

"...Knuckles-san…" Miyuki spoke, the area starting to get a bit cold, "Those aren't the pheasants I worked so hard to buy and prepare, are they, kyu?"

"Um…" Knuckles removed them and put them on the grill, "Just tenderizing them a little bit more, ma'am."

"I thought so," Miyuki nodded as it started warming up again.

"Miyuki, you are a lifesaver," Amy sighed, "Honestly, I don't know why you and I go out of our way to make things nice for everyone."

"You do deserve better," everyone turned to see Eggman standing nearby, walking over to them, "I mean, take this decor! A truly uplifting incarnation of spring itself!"

"Euagh!" Sticks yelped as she jumped on the table and hefted the ice sculpture up like a club while the others grouped with her, Sonic wearing a towel around his waist with a tiny limp, "That villain, just give me the signal, Amy, and I'll ice his goose!"

"Don't let the constant fact that I've been trying to destroy you lead you to believe I am trying to destroy you right now. I just want to hire Amy to redo my lair."

"Destroy?" Miyuki repeated.

"Oh! Well, in terms of the game we play, 'destroy' means 'lose,'" Eggman explained quickly.

"Ahh…" Miyuki nodded.

 _'Phew. Thank goodness they warned me about this the first time I ever met her…'_ Eggman sighed in relief mentally, "Oh, and is that lovely ice sculpture _your_ doing, ma'am?" Eggman asked, motioning to the swan sculpture Sticks was ready to hit him with.

"Why yes it is, kyu," Miyuki smiled, "Graduated at the top of my art class in high school, kyu. I take very good care of the ice sculptures I make and Sticks won't be getting anymore of my delicious takoyaki if she doesn't put the statue I made down, kyu."

"..." Sticks put it down gently and hopped off the table.

"Might I ask for your assistance as well in a bit of a project I'm doing for my island fortress?" Eggman asked, "I originally came to ask for Amy's expertise, but seeing that you two brought such a wonderful sight of spring together, I just can't help but ask for both of you for aide."

"...Hmm…" Miyuki pondered for a moment, tapping her cheek a bit, "Well...Sure. We'd be more than glad to help, hakase, kyu."

"Wait, what?" Tails's eyes widened as White walked over, carrying a backpack of supplies.

"What did I miss?" White asked.

"Your sis and mine are going to go help Eggman," Tails replied.

"Ah. I see…" White nodded before helping put the backpack on Miyuki's back, "All of your decorating supplies and Amy's decorating supplies are in here. Side pockets hold your ice sculpture tools and a small snack in case you get hungry."

"Thankyu, darling," Miyuki smiled as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're just going along with this?" Sonic whispered to White.

"I trust that the doctor will not try to capture them," White replied, "He already knows what would happen if he upsets Miyuki."

"Splendid!" Eggman beamed, "Right this way, ladies!"

"Of course," Miyuki nodded as she began to walk, "Come along, Amy-chan, kyu."

"You're not seriously buying this, are you?" Sonic quietly asked Amy.

"Is it so hard to believe Eggman might actually respect the talents Miyuki and I have?" Amy questioned.

"Well yeah….wait. That came out wrong."

"Hmph," Amy huffed as she walked off after Miyuki and Eggman.

"..." Knuckles held up one of his hands, revealing the other pheasant was still on it, and made a deep voice, "Don't look at me, I didn't use her lovingly prepared meal as a puppet."

"Knuckles-san…" Miyuki spoke, not once turning to face him.

"..." Knuckles put it on the grill, "Needed just a little more tenderizing."

"Good boy, kyu."

* * *

"So where do you want us to start?" Amy asked as the three entered his lair.

"You both have total creative freedom. Make this lair so fantastic that they'll want to put it on the cover for _two_ issues!" Eggman explained before Tempo climbed up onto his shoulder, giving a mewl, "And please don't let any construction work cause undue things to Tempo. I'm getting paid fifty bucks to take care of Roll's cat and I don't want her hurt one bit."

"Of course, kyu," Miyuki nodded as she looked around, "Hmm...Amy-chan, you handle the decor. I'll focus on the walls and pictures, kyu."

"You got it!" Amy agreed.

With that, the two girls went to work. Eggman kept a close eye on the two as they were working, Amy fixing up some of the furniture while Miyuki focused on the walls and paintings Eggman had hanging up. Miyuki called over Orbot and Cubot and handed them some paint rollers on poles and pulled out a few buckets of paint.

"...Hmm...this seems to be going well so far…" Eggman noted to himself as he watched Amy place a soft blue and spotted pillow on the couch before walking off, "..." he walked over to the couch and moved the pillow slightly, "There we go."

"Hakase," Eggman turned to see Miyuki walk up to him, a few color swatches in her hand, "Which color would you prefer, kyu? I need to make sure it'll fit in with the rest of your home, kyu."

"Hmm…" Eggman looked at the swatches, "Ah. How about 'contemporary upbeat take on evil blue?' Seems to be the only color on here with that name, even, so it must be a good sign."

"But of course, hakase- kyu," Miyuki nodded as she walked back over to Orbot and Cubot, "Orbot-san, Kyubot-san, we have our color…" she looked back over at Eggman, "Excuse me, but do you have a place I can go change at? I don't want to get my kimono all dirty, kyu."

"Second door to your right."

"Thankyu," Miyuki nodded as she walked off.

"Hmm…" Amy looked Eggman over, "With your preferred attire, I'm thinking...Plaid."

"Plaid?" Eggman repeated.

"Oh, yes," Amy nodded.

"Why...know what? You're the expert, so I'll just sit back," Eggman stated as Amy walked off. Once she was gone, Eggman noticed the pillow on the couch was moved to where it originally was, "..." he walked over and moved the pillow back to where he put it, "Perfect."

"Okay. I'm ready, kyu," Miyuki spoke as she walked back in, wearing a white tee and white coveralls, "Let us get to work, Orbot-san, Kyubot-san...oh, and Amy? Please take that picture you put up down."

"Okay…" Amy pouted a tiny bit as she put the painting of unicorns and rainbows down, earning a relieved sigh from Eggman under his breath, "But...why though?"

"Could get in trouble for copyright infringement, kyu," Miyuki answered.

"Huh?" Amy raised a brow.

"Ah well. Let's just move on," Eggman informed.

* * *

Eggman paced as he looked around, Miyuki and Amy doing some final touches, _'Today's the day that guy comes back to check on the fortress…'_

"There," Miyuki smiled as she finished setting up a small ice sculpture, "Perfect, kyu. Are you done on your end, Amy-chan?"

"Yep!" Amy replied as she motioned to the ceiling, where Orbot and Cubot-their red and yellow replaced with plaid and devil wings-were rotating above them, dropping rose petals.

"...I-" Eggman began before the doorbell rang, "It's him!"

"Him?" Miyuki blinked before the doors opened up, revealing the Photographer's assistant, "...Oh….it's you."

"You know him?" Eggman asked.

"More like I know who's butt he kisses," Miyuki stated before muttering, "Little over critical toady…"

"Hmph. I see zat you still are upset with her decision," the assistant adjusted his glasses.

"More like she didn't want to admit mine was better…" Miyuki snorted as she crossed her arms under her bust.

"Vell, let's just see vat you have done for ze man," the assistant rolled his eyes as he began to look around, "Hmm…"

"...He hates it," Eggman whispered to Amy, "You didn't put that picture of those unicorns back up, did you?"

"What? No," Amy shook her head.

"Then it has to be the way you placed that pillow."

"I set it just fine."

"Shh," Miyuki hushed the two as the assistant looked the lair over, "So, Gunther?"

"Gunther?" Eggman and Amy repeated before one of Miyuki's tails pointed at the assistant, "Oh."

"Mmm...As much as I dislike zis coming from mein lips, I love it," the assistant admitted, "Ze use of 'contemporary look on evil blue' for ze walls complimented by ze plaid fabrics und ze devil machines sending the rose petals you obviously used to act as them spreading ze fires of hell…" he motioned to the ice sculpture of Eggman standing atop a pile of defeated enemies, "...und ze ice sculpture zat catches the villain within...Zis is easily worth two covers."

"Why thankyu. It.." Miyuki began.

"It was my idea!" Eggman shouted, "Yes, I really outdid myself, didn't I?"

"Indeed. Hiring her vas a good vun," Gunther nodded as he walked out, "She vill be here tomorrow first zing in ze morning."

"Give her my warmest regards," Miyuki waved, _'...you little suck-up.'_

"Two covers! Ah! Did you hear him? This is worth easily _two_ covers!" Eggman cheered.

"He's really named Gunther?" Cubot called down from the ceiling.

"Quiet you," Eggman ordered, "Now, ladies, I…"

"What was that about all of this was _your_ idea?" Amy frowned.

"Well, none of this would've been possible if I did not hire you both," Eggman explained.

"Yeah, but you took credit for all the hard work me and Miyuki did," Amy countered.

"I believe it's pronounced 'Miyuki and I,'" Orbot corrected.

"Quiet, you," Amy and Eggman ordered.

"May I call my husband please?" Miyuki asked.

"Of course. Phone's down the hallway and to the right," Eggman replied.

"Thankyu," Miyuki nodded as she walked off.

Once she was gone, Eggman turned back to Amy, "Well what did you expect? This is the cover of a supervillain magazine! Taking credit for other's hard work added some bonus points to getting on it."

"...Not if I undo said hard work," Amy frowned as she brought her hammer out.

"Whoa now! We don't want to make Miyuki upset, do we?" Eggman questioned, "It seems she has a vendetta with the lady in charge. We ruin all this and what do you think is gonna happen between you and her, huh?"

"..." Amy frowned as she put her hammer away, "You win this round, Eggman…"

"Yes!" Eggman pumped a fist before pressing a button, causing confetti to rain with a banner reading 'EGGMAN WINS' to pop out, "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for one of you to say that."

"...I suppose you have a cake for that too then…"

"But of course! Cubot, Orbot, get the cake out of the fridge! And hide the banner away for the next time!" Eggman ordered.

* * *

Over with the others, the table was finished set up as they sat down...only problem was...the pheasant was burnt.

"...Sis is gonna kill you, Knux," Tails deadpanned.

"Burnt food doesn't taste the same without Amy," Knuckles sighed.

"That's because you're eating a napkin," Sonic pointed out.

"...Uh, yeah. I knew that," Knuckles responded before taking another bite of his napkin.

"You think we should go check on Eggman, see what he's done to them?" Sticks asked before White pulled out his cellphone, "Huh? Why are you…"

A ringtone went off from the phone and White opened it, "Hello, honey."

=Hello, darling, kyu=

"...How did he know?" Knuckles whispered, exchanging looks with Sticks and Sonic.

"Is everything going okay?" White asked.

=Hai. The assistant thought it was so good, it values two covers for their magazine, kyu=

"That's grand," White nodded before putting his hand over the speaker and looked at the others, "They might be getting to be on two covers of a magazine."

=Only problem is… _she's_ coming

"Hoo boy…" White sighed, "Her of all people? Small world."

=I remember my breathing exercises, so you won't have to worry about a sudden Winter for a whole month, kyu=

"Okay. When is she expecting to arrive?"

=First thing in the morning=

"Right," White frowned, "You'll be staying the night there then?"

=Hai. I need to make sure both Amy-chan and Eggman hakase don't end up tearing eachother apart, kyu= Miyuki replied before sniffing a bit =Oh? I smell cake=

"Must be to celebrate the good news," White replied, "Third pocket of the pack has your overnight clothes along with Amy's and a fresh pair for you both for the next day. Front most pocket has your travel case for the bathroom."

=Thankyu, darling. Love you=

"Love you, too," White chuckled before hanging up once she did, "Well, good news and bad news. The good news is...Knuckles, you won't be killed by her tonight so long as we eat what's edible on it and destroy the rest. Bad news? They have to spend the night to make final preparations for the photographer arrives in the morning."

"...Should we save th-" Sticks began.

"Hoo boy…" Tails sighed a bit, "Out of all the people, it had to be _her_ …"

"...Explanation, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"My sis and the photographer White is talking about have a rather...nasty rivalry dating back to high school," Tails explained.

"...How bad we talkin'?"

"An entire month of Winter bad."

"Does not help that she tried to 'steal' me from Miyuki," White frowned.

"Yeah...let's just hope they don't end up fighting…" Tails added.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...White, mind taking my place in going?" Sonic offered, "I'd go myself, but…"

Everyone heard a loud sneeze from the second floor.

"Of course," White nodded before handing Sonic a box of tissues and some cold medicine.

"Thanks," Sonic nodded as he ran inside.

"Well now…" White stretched as he walked over the burnt pheasant, "Let's see what we can salvage first."

"We're not heading there right away?"

"She said the woman comes first thing in the morning. We just have to be there an hour before then," White replied,

"...Fair enough."

"Exactly," White nodded, "And...Knuckles, there's a fork stuck in this bird."

"...Grilled Pheasant on a stick?"

* * *

"...Miyuki, why're you squeezing a stress ball?" Amy asked, wearing a pink nightgown with white flower designs.

"Oh, no reason, Amelia…" Miyuki assured, wearing a ice-blue nightgown with snowflake designs as she had her hair down, "No reason at all...kyu."

"Hot cocoa for your nerves?" Eggman offered, wearing his evil pajamas.

"Why thankyu, haakse," Miyuki smiled as she took the mug, "Oh? Marshmallows with a slight drizzle of caramel?"

"Your husband called and told me it was your favorite."

"Ahh…" Miyuki nodded as she took a sip of her drink, "Ahh...umai, kyu."

"Good," Eggman nodded as he offered a mug to Amy.

"..."

"Don't worry. I didn't add anything funny to it," Eggman assured the female hedgehog.

Amy said nothing as she took the mug, keeping an eye on the mad doctor as he sat down.

"...Seriously, though, Miyuki? Heart-to-heart? His name is really Gunther?" Eggman asked, "He looked more like a...a...Gustav to me with the accent and all."

"Sounded more like a Pietrov to me," Amy admitted.

"That's what I thought at first too, kyu…" Miyuki nodded, "...Considering he's always walking behind that boyfriend stealing witch…" Eggman and Amy backed away a little as the stress ball popped, "But no need to worry about that right now, kyu. Let's just see what's on TV…"

"The TV schedule says that there's a Comedy Chimp movie marathon on tonight," Amy noted, "Including his brand new buddy cop movie."

"...Hakase?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have wifi?"

"It's titled 'EggmanRulz123' and the password is '1HT3THTH3DG3H0G' with all captial letters."

"Thankyu," Miyuki nodded as she pulled out a laptop, a small snowflake and snow fox sticker on the sides as she opened it up.

"...Why if I may ask?"

"I have a Net-twigs account so we can watch whatever movie or series they have, kyu," Miyuki replied, "Including Net-twigs original series."

"..." Eggman said nothing as he pressed a button, causing a wide-screen TV to pop out, "What're we waiting for then?! Orbot, Cubot, make some popcorn! No better yet! Make a huge bucket full with three kinds in it! Kettle, butter, and white cheddar!"

"Why not caramel instead of kettle, kyu?" Miyuki suggested as she signed in into her account.

"...Make it an even bigger bucket with four kinds r you'll be the kernels that will be popped!" Eggman ordered.

* * *

White knocked on the entrance to Eggman's fortress. For a few moments, nothing happened. He reached up once more when it opened up revealing Eggman dressed.

"WELC-oh, it's you three and Miyuki's husband," Eggman frowned before nodding to White, "What do you want?"

"Emotional defense to prevent your lair from being turned into a block of ice," White replied.

"...Fair enough. Come in," Eggman nodded as he moved to the side, "Just be careful of the mess. Had a bit of a marathon last night on Net-twigs, so Orbot and Cubot are cleaning it up right now."

"...You have Net-twigs?" Tails raised a brow at that as the four walked in.

"No, but your sister does," Eggman responded, "Which reminds me, I need to get myself an account. I like Comedy Chimp and all, but I need a bit of variety."

"Indeed," White nodded, "Between you and I, he needs to change his style up."

"White-kyun!" Miyuki waved, dressed up for the day, "Morning!"

"Morning, honey," White waved back.

"Why are all of you here?" Amy asked as she walked in.

"Well, we were a bit worried since you were here for so long," Knuckles replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah...also to give Sis emotional and defensive support," Tails added.

"Wh…" Amy began before blinking a bit, "...Nevermind. I can probably guess why after seeing her pop her stress ball last night."

White tossed Miyuki another stress ball.

"Hoo boy...Well then, final touches, everyone!" Eggman called, "We don't have much time until Diane Aardvark arrives for the cover shoot!"

"Joy...I can't wait…" Miyuki smiled as she squeezed her stress ball before it popped as well ,"...darling?" she soon caught one tossed at her, "Thankyu."

"...Seriously, how does he do that?" Knuckles whispered.

"He must be psychic," Sticks guessed quietly.

"Those exist?" Knuckles blinked before the doors opened.

"Ahh! She's here!" Eggman beamed a bit as he turned around, "Welcome!"

Gunther walked in before moving to the side, letting the camerawoman enter. Diane was an anthropomorphic aardvark of average height with grey fur and a thin tail. She had a pair of sharp ears and tuffs on the back of her head, a raised white grey muzzle with a black snout and a tuff of smooth grey hair on her head. She also had noticeable wrinkles on her forehead and very dark purple irises. Her attire consisted of a purple shirt and skirt, a white coat, black high-heeled boots with grey soles, and a golden bracelet on her wrist. She also appears to wear pink lipstick.

"...Hmm…" the camerawoman hummed a bit as she looked around before setting her gaze on Miyuki, "...Miyuki."

"Diane…" Miyuki greeted, an even tone in her voice.

Tempo hissed at Diane before running up Eggman's shoulder.

Diane ignored the cat as she looked around, "Hmm….the paint seems to go fine with the plaid….the devil bots seem a nice touch...everything seems to be in order."

"Oh thank god…" White and the others sighed in relief.

"However...I do see one fault…" Diane spoke, causing almost everyone in the room to tense, "The ice sculpture."

"...Ex _cuse_ you?" Miyuki asked, trying to stay calm as she squeezed her stress ball rapidly.

"Dear," White whispered, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder and giving a reassuring squeeze.

"The ice is a bit chipped around the nose, the mustache is a bit melted, the lower part is too round, and you missed a button on his outfit…"

"Dear…"

"Oh! I asked for it!" Eggman quickly explained, causing everyone to look at him.

"Excuse me?" Diane raised a brow.

"Well, who wants to root for a villain who comes out in one piece in a fight?" Eggman questioned, motioning to the pile of defeated enemies, "Sure, it would be ideal, but where's the realism in it? I asked her to make it look like a tough battle was had." he glanced over his shoulder at Miyuki, "Isn't that right, Miyuki?"

"...Why yes. I followed his exact instruction, kyu," Miyuki nodded while whispering to Eggman, "Thankyu."

"No pr-"

"True...but she did a rather poor job on it. Should've been bigger," Diane stated.

"...Deep breaths, honey….deep breaths, "White advised Miyuki, her eye was twitching violently as the stress ball was on the verge of popping.

"Despite the ice sculpture, the place is good...not two covers good, but good…"

"...Well...at least sh-" Tails began.

"By the way, White? How have you been? Miss that one time we shared?"

 _'And just like that, a bitch is gonna die!'_ Miyuki mentally snapped.

"Uh oh," Sticks looked around before looking at her satchel and pulled out a box, "'In case 'sharing' is mentioned.'" she opened it and pulled out a small packet, "Huh?"

"Throw it at Miyuki," White said quickly, yet completely casual.

"What?" Stick blinked before Knuckles grabbed the bag and threw it at Miyuki's face.

 ***poof***

Miyuki partially collapsed against White, purring as all nine of her tails swayed.

"...Uh….what was that?" Amy asked.

"Catnip," White and Tails responded under their breath.

"Ms. Aardvark, I do believe we should take the photos before it wears off," Amy gulped, looking at Miyuki in worry, _'And she plunges the entire place into a year-long Winter.'_

"Of course...but first…" Diane paused before looking at Gunther, "You're fired."

"Huh?!"

"If I had known _she'd_ be here, I wouldn't have come at all," Diane frowned.

Gunther gawked while Orbot handed him a ticket.

"For the roller coaster as a way to make you feel better. That always cheers me up," Orbot explained.

"Yes! The cover is mine for an issue!" Eggman cheered with a mad laugh.

* * *

"So how'd it go over there?" Sonic asked as he saw the others walk by his hut, Roll sitting beside him on the outdoor chairs and dressed in a pink and black sleeping gown with a dark-pink house robe on her shoulders with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands.

"Eggman got the front cover," Tals replied, "...Good thing, too. Miyuki was about to pull her into a catfight."

"...She mentioned White?"

"Eeyup."

"I should've stayed away," White shook his head, "Me being there only gave her additional fuel to hit her with."

"White-kyun~" Miyuki mewled as she snuggled into the back of his head, being carried on his back by him, "Fwuffy…"

"Had to use catnip on her," Sticks explained.

"Be thankful, too. From the way she looked, we were gonna face a year-long Winter instead of a month-long," Knuckles added.

"Ouch," Sonic cringed as Roll took a sip of her drink.

"White-kyun, let's go home…" Miyuki pouted cutely as she leaned on White's shoulder, "Imma tired, and need you to warm me up~"

"Huh?" Tails blinked twice.

"Nothing," White replied quickly as he ran off, carrying Miyuki, "Have a good day, everyone!"

"Heh. Guess you and Miyuki did a great job there," Sonic noted, looking at Amy.

"We did," Amy nodded while muttering, "Even though Eggman tried to take credit for our hard work…"

"Ah, well," Sonic shrugged before Roll leaned and whispered something to him, "Huh? Really?" he looked at Amy, "Well, Roll was wondering if, when she's feeling better, if you could help her make a nice garden area in the backyard for her strawberry patch."

"Ahh...I'd be more than happy to help, Roll," Amy smiled, "After all, what are best friends for?"

Roll smiled before covering her mouth with a sleeve and gave a sneeze.

* * *

 **Read and review!**


End file.
